Demons Life Demons Heart Demons Grasp
by ImaginarySuicide
Summary: Gaara has always been feared for the Demon he holds inside him. Amaya has been viewed as a demon her entire life & just barely escaped a horrifying life. Will Amaya overcome the past? Will Gaara learn to love? If so, will he be able to give her up? Never.
1. Chapter 1

_Hola people! I'm new here but not new at writing though this is my first fanfic ever….i don't really know how to start this but I guess I'll wing it… help would be appreciated if anything comes to mind._

_This is a rewrite of My Demon because the point of view irritated me so….. yeah._

_Clarification…. I'm pretty sure I don't own Naruto… actually REALLY REALLY sure that i. do. Not. Own. Naruto!_

_Anyways enjoy the reading!_

Pain…

Agony…

Anguish…

Amaya felt the familiar torment crawling through her aching limbs and bones, like a living creature treading over already well-worn paths. Why wouldn't end? She felt a shudder pass through her spine and a low whimper escaped her chapped lips. There was so much of it… never ending just increasing week by week. Maybe even that would be bearable if it weren't for the hatred, the loathing so intense she could smell it every time one of Them came to throw cold rice and chicken at her. And she could taste the disgust they harbored for her as they gazed at her shivering form.

Peering through the tangled mass of black Amaya surveyed her prison of seven years. It was the same as always, a cold one roomed wood house with holes through the floor and the windows boarded up so she received no light. They kept her here because she was a Demon. She wasn't one of the fortunate ones that just had a Demon sealed within them- her untrimmed nails scraped over the rotting floor boards- Amaya's Demon was in fact herself. The things she could do, her own appearance, the color of her chakra, they were all signs of her Demonic visage.

And as such, breaking out of this pathetic hovel would be nothing- if that was all that was keeping her bound. Unfortunately the villagers had long ago solved the problem of chaining Amaya's' 'unholy gifts from the devil' within her form.

Her deep blue eyes flicked to the heavy iron shackles encasing her pale wrists. They were crudely made with jagged edges that still, after many years, tore Amaya's flesh but sturdy and unbreakable none the less. Symbols were carved into the treacherous bands that she suspected was a written language of some sort but since she had been confined to this place from the age of three she had never learned to- what They called- 'read'. But from experience she knew that the tags of sticky paper scribbled on with ink and slapped on the inner part of her shackles probably said something along the lines of 'bind' because when They came into the room for any purpose They would pause before the door Amaya would see Their hands make a sign and hear them say that word. She hated Their visits probably more than They hated visiting her; the horror and terror of feeling her hands being chained to the ground and unable to do anything if one of Them decided to take Their angers and troubles in that day out on her. Every time They came Amaya forced herself to keep her head down so they wouldn't see the glint of silver as the color of her eyes was leeched away by her anger to expose what They called her 'Eyes of Death'. Because if They saw the change in her eyes I'd be punished, Amaya would be dragged out by my hair and lashed to a post in the center of the village so the strongest warrior or hunter could beat her with an assortment of weapons until she passed out. Then she'd wake up back in her hut still bleeding from numerous wounds and biting her tongue until it too bled to keep herself from screaming her pain and rage. It would only take around a day of rest to heal but that they left Amaya in filth and garbage, hoping- no- _praying_ for her demise…

She felt her adrenaline spike just thinking about it and the color of her eyes start to bleed away.

Seven years, seven years in this place and Amaya still had no hope of escaping and if what They said was true, she would live long past a regular humans time of death in this torture. There was no possible way she'd be able to keep living here for that long with her mind intact- perhaps she'd even transform into the Demon that felt nothing but anger and evil that they thought she was.

"Bind." Amaya's head jerked up just in time to see the shadow of someone standing in front of the door as her arms were pulled down so she was forced to bow. The door creaked open and a pair of footsteps entered.

"Another Warrior of the village has challenged you, Yasha." A rough voice grated out. "Come." It wasn't as if she was expected to obey, as she was chained to the floor, so Amaya merely stayed quiet and waited for the one of Them that had come into her holdings to untether her and grab her hair to lead her out of her dwellings as was the usual for this kind of event.

Without a pause the man reached down and shoved Amaya's head completely to the floor so she wouldn't be able to see the hand signs he made- They were very cautious with such things around her- then after a few seconds, when her hands were released he slammed her wrists together and spent another few seconds binding them. "Up." He spat. His hand closed over the matted tendrils at the nape of her neck and Amaya smothered a whimper as she scrambled to keep up with his long stride. Her feet passed over the threshold and then her ears were assaulted by excited mutterings and the sound of someone sharpening his weapon.

She inhaled deeply. It had been so long since she had been outside… so very long. Sunlight cut across her pupils and Amaya hissed, flinching back and causing pain to ripple over her scalp as she was yanked along behind the man.

"The Yasha!" She heard people whispering.

"Disgusting!"

"Look at her clothes!"

"I hope Masaru beats her good!"

Eyes of hatred and despise fell upon her hobbling form, scorching and burning her with every glare.

Miserably, she tilted her head so none of the onlookers could see her face. This Masaru would beat her, there was no 'hope' only imminent pain. Because that was how this game was created: the challenger only had to swipe the Demon once and they won- which they celebrated by beating her until at least half of her bones were broke or worse. Amaya didn't stand a chance during these events. Her hands were left shackled together, her powers bound, and she received no weapon to defend herself; it was a monthly occurrence for the village's morbid pleasure and an inescapable sentence of punishment for her.

Amaya just wished she knew why she was being punished.

The grip on her hair tightened and before she knew it she was tossed up onto the risen platform she'd been on too many times she didn't want to count. Amaya knew every ridge, her blood had been spilt on almost every inch, and her bones had been broken, joint by joint on its surface.

All too familiar with the procedure, she didn't even bother to get to her feet; if she did it would just give them another opportunity to shove her down.

Immediately a chant started up around her.

"Ma-saru!"

"Ma-saru!"

"Masaru!"

Heavy footfalls a few yards away signaled her new 'Conqueror' had arrived. She could only wonder what weapon he'd chosen for this occasion. Knives? An axe? Just an old hammer picked up from a shed? Amaya had experienced it all, cuts, bashes, _everything_ that was known to injure and other things most people had no clue could inflict damage and in most instances wouldn't under normal circumstances. This event was anything but normal circumstance- well for her it was normal but she could guess that this wasn't normal in other villages, at least she hoped not.

"We are here today," the Elder's voice boomed out, "For the challenge between the Yasha who has plagued our village with evil for over seven years and Masura-" The crowd screamed their encouragement "-the brave warrior who wishes to prove himself by facing the Yasha's terrible powers of evil. Yasha," Amaya cringed at the term, now converted to a name for her, "I bid you to stand and face your opponent who will soon be your Conqueror." The words rang hollowly within her ears, the meaning and formality dead from over use. She hesitantly pushed herself to standing and dared to raise her eyes to survey her opponent.

A tall full grown man with muscles upon muscles most likely acquired through hunting or building stood before Amaya, eyes mocking and glinting with malice. A shudder hit her form as she calculated the damage she'd most likely receive. It had been a while since she'd been beaten by a mountain of a man like this- no doubt she'd be dizzy from the first punch.

"Masaru!" The Elder called, her eyes flicked to the old curled man from over the heads of the blood thirsty crowd. "You have seen the Yasha, and the Death within her eyes! Have you still the will to battle her?" 'Of course he did,' Amaya thought blandly 'it was fixed for him to win.'

'Masaru' let out a rumbling laugh, "This evil is no match for the strength of our people which I wield with my hands! Let the Battle commence!" The gong sounded at his words and Amaya tiredly looked over at him again. Another beating, a thousand more wounds. It was so pointless, she didn't even feel the hatred she once harbored every time she stepped into this pin- she would save the hatred for later, in the safety of her hut where it wouldn't be turned against her.

"ARG!" He bellowed, swinging up a hammer twice his size as he bulldozed towards her. Amaya's eyes widened. She had been ready to just let him beat her, but at that speed that shot would surely kill her. Horrified anew, she darted to the side just as his hammer hit the place she had stood and stone shattered into the air.

Why?

She leapt up onto one of the wood barriers erected around them and nimbly shot across the length as he struck out at her again and again, splintering wood and rock through the air like a mad man. Her hair whipped over her eyes as she flipped up onto the top post and scampered along the beam. The man was insane! His eyes held a crazed look in them, a rabid glint hungering for blood and death.

He hit again, this time right below her and Amaya was sent sailing through the air onto the stone, feeling the jarring impact to the marrow of her bones. She never once made a sound, never once a shriek or cry- and she wouldn't, not even through the entire beating she would receive. she had screamed when she was younger, shouted curses and sobbed, yet that only seemed to feed their craving, wetting their appetite for more.

Her palm smeared her blood across the hard surface of the ground and Amaya barely rolled away in time, due to the uselessness of her hands, to escape a bone-crushing swing from her 'Conquerors' weapon. Stumbling hard to the side, she fought to breath as her lungs strained and her body yearned for water. Amaya was in no shape to be dodging attacks, her limbs were weak and her bones could be seen through her skin. Perhaps with the right nourishment she would've been able to fight even in her current state, but now…

Now she was fighting just to stay conscious and he hadn't even struck her yet.

"HIT HER!" Someone in the crowd shouted.

"Crush her bones to dust!"

"TEACH HER WHY EVIL SHOULD NOT EXIST!"

She crouched panting as he came at her and couldn't even bring myself to move. What was the point anyways? He'd catch her eventually. Spill her blood eventually. Break her bones eventually. It was only a matter of time-time her body wouldn't last.

"ARG!" He screamed, arms coming up in an arching swing that would no doubt catch her shoulder and shatter it. Amaya waited for impact. Watched as he brought the weapon down, lower and lower, already hearing the snapping of bones. The crowd's cries rose up in a sharp crescendo as they too predicted what was to come in scarce seconds.

But it never did.

Someone ducked in-between them, a flash of bluish black and white and then the hammer was flying away towards the trees and an enraged Masaru stood there panting and glaring at a peculiar guy with half his face covered.

"Sorry, but I can't allow you to do that." The newcomer said. Amaya gaped, who was this person who had saved her? And what was that headband over his eye? Before she could ask fatigue overwhelmed her and she collapsed wheezing in an exhausted heap. He glanced back at her then turned fully to Masaru. "Sasaki," Suddenly there was another person crouching in front of her "take care of the kid. There are some things I clearly need to sort out."

"Yes, Team Leader." Amaya's vision blurred so she couldn't make out many of the newest arrivals features but he reached down and touched her throat- which she jumped at- before frowning and turning his head back to the other one. "I need to move her; she needs to be treated for malnourishment, dehydration and most likely other- worse- problems."

"Take her to the camp then, we'll patch her up best we can and take her back to the village."

Black was closing in on her from all sides, she'd never felt so weak before. How long had it been since they'd delivered food? Water? She had approximated a week but she could never tell with their being no sun light to go by in her hut.

The last thing Amaya heard was the Elder shouting for the release of the Yasha.

_ Whoo! Who are the mysterious people? Will Amaya be better off with these new people or will they view her as a monster too and reject her….. you will never know unless you read the next chapter I'm working on so HA… but it will get better and if you stop now you will miss it…. Just saying_


	2. Chapter 2

**N/A: **_Again I do NOT own Naruto just part of this plot (the one I made up) and Amaya along with her village and her….. wellll seeing as you haven't gotten there yet you'll just have to wait and see_

_Enjoy!_

The feeling of cold liquid being forced down her throat ripped Amaya from unconscious state and she struck out frantically, hitting flesh, and rolling away before opening her eyes. Two shocked men with the same weird headband she'd seen earlier knelt opposite me, a spilt water canister lying on its side.

Where was she?

The village?

No… her gaze swept the surrounding area and panic leapt through her. Trees, she was surrounded by trees. There was no village in sight. No sign of any other human life other than the three of us. Amaya's heart began to pound as she looked up at the hulking figures. Never had she been so close to… she reached out with a trembling hand brushed a curious fingertip over the brown part of the tree before quickly snatching her hand back and gazing at the spot she had touched with wide eyes. The tree had been… rough to touch.

Why?

Someone cleared their throat and she whipped her head around to find the two men holding their hands up in a slightly unthreatening pose.

"Don't be afraid, we brought you here to care for you, you need to drink some water so you can get better." One said. she tilted my head to the side as she identified his voice. He'd had been the one who'd been called Sasaki by the other one. He reached down slowly to pick up the canister before extending it towards me in the same cautious momentum. Amaya stared at him. He was offering her water? When she didn't take it he brought it closer to his body and frowned. "It's not poisoned. Here, I'll take a sip-" he brought the canister to his lips and swallowed once before bringing it back down, "-see? Perfectly safe." He extended it again towards her. Was he crazy? He was offering her the same canister he'd drunk from? She'd always been given a bowl of somewhat greenish water that no one else would touch. Was it a trick? Amaya went to refuse but the back of her throat was so dry… she gazed longingly at the canister.

With a quick motion she snatched the water and put it to her mouth immediately-so if it was a trick she'd at least get some water down- and swallowed. Clean, fresh liquid washed over her tongue and she paused to look at the canister in wonder. The other sip forced down her throat hadn't been a delusional fantasy! _'This water'_... she poured a little out onto her hand and watched in awe as the clear droplets gathered together. _'It's clean!'_ With a sudden excitement she put the thing to her lips and swallowed again and again, just reveling in the feeling of such stuff dropping into her stomach. When it had run dry she let it drop to the ground and wiped an arm over her mouth; just a cup of that would be enough to make her agree to no food for a few weeks!

There was a slight scuffing sound and she looked over to see Sasaki pick up the container and chuckle. "She must've been thirsty, she drank it all."

Oh no! Amaya scuttled back away from them, eyes of blue wide. She hadn't meant to drink it all! It had just tasted so good!

Catching her movement the man held up his hands again and cooed softly. "Hey, hey, hey! We're not going to hurt you for that. Come over here, I'm sure you're hungry right? Can you speak?"

Speak? She nodded slowly. She believed she could speak. It had been a long time but Amaya used to converse with her conquerors from time to time. Experimentally, she opened her mouth and surprised herself when a little noise came out. Yes, Amaya was sure she could speak. "I-I am, very hungry." she got out.

He grinned and patted a patch of grass besides him. "C'mon then, I have some rations you can eat." Amaya suspiciously eyed the spot then scooted over besides him, seeing him as less of a threat since the water. A plump ball of rice was placed in her hands and she immediately broke off a corner piece before trying to give the other part back to him.

He declined with a shake of his head. "No, no. This is for you, eat up, I've got my own here- see?" he held up another and Amaya shrugged, this time not planning to protest when the man gave her more.

"Tha-thank you." she said after she finished three balls of delicious rice and a piece of fish.

Sasaki beamed. "You're welcome. Do you have any questions I can answer while we wait for Kakashi to get back?

Amaya frowned, looking from Sasaki to the nameless one and back. "Kakashi?" she asked.

"He's the one who saved you from getting hit by that hammer earlier," he said. His brown eyes flicked back to her. "Why were you being attacked by that brute anyways? You're only around twelve- you could've been killed!"

"Ten" She supplied absently, then shook her head. "I've been hit by worse."

His eyebrows rose. "Worse than a hammer double your size?"

She nodded. "Challenges like that happen around twice a month for me. They usually beat me bloody afterwards."

The guy that had stayed quiet till now gaped. "Why were you doing that? Isn't the village taking care of you!"

"I'm seen as a Devil in the village, I've been living in the house on the edge of the village now for seven years and I only see sunlight when the men challenge me." Amaya shook her head. "when I face the men it is fixed, I can't win in a fight with no proper nourishment, my wrists shackled, and my powers bound." She gazed over at the trees. "This is the first time I've been able to touch one…" she murmured. "It's so strange being away from my hut."

A movement to her left triggered all of her instincts again and Amaya looked back to see Sasaki lying back on the leaves with a smile. "Well you're not going to go back There, so you'll have plenty of new experiences. And our village is completely surrounded by trees bigger than this. You'll like it there I think. There are kids your age running all over and the Hokage is kind and fair, you'll probably get adopted by one of the family's living there, maybe a ninja one and perhaps you'll even attend the academy-" He opened one eye and looked up at her speculatively. "Hey, when you said your 'powers were bound', what were you talking about?"

She looked away and crossed hermy arms, a tremble scurrying up her spine. Could she tell them? Would they lock her in a house like the former or somewhere worse? They said that they wouldn't, but… Amaya's eyes fell to the scare on her right hand. "I-I have energy that I can use when I want to… I've heard that there are others like me but it was the color of the energy that got me locked in the house. They called it my gift from the devil." There! She had said it- she bit her lip and twisted her fingers together- Amaya hoped it was the right choice.

Seconds passed and no one said a word; only the birds flitting about the foliage dared to break the silence with their song.

Hesitantly, she tilted her head to look back at the two. Had she read them wrong? _'Are they already reaching for the knives?_' she thought nervously. Her eyes slid across the terrain with a sudden reluctance as a knot formed in her stomach from regret and fear. Perhaps she should start—

Her mouth dropped open in shock. They were Laughing!

Seeing the emotion stained upon her face Sasaki chuckled slightly and covered his mouth. "Sorry, sorry, it's just that it's perfect!" she gave them a confused look. "Well, you see, you're able to release chakra and we're ninja so…" Her look got even more confused.

"Sasaki," the quiet one sputtered out between laughs. "I think you need to explain the system to her. After all, she probably has never heard of our village let alone ninja!"

Nodding his agreement, Sasaki sat up and turned to face her so a foot and a half of ground separated them then wiped away the stray leaves and twigs littering the space. "There are certain villages scattered around whose main purpose and business is to train ninja for hire and protection." He began, grabbing a long stick and putting it to the dirt to draw five different symbols. "The five main ones are the Village Hidden in the Clouds, the Village Hidden in the Mist, the Village hidden in the Rocks, the Village Hidden in the Sand and -us- the Village Hidden Leaves." She peered curiously at what he was drawing and frowned.

'Is this…writing?' she thought pensively. Her mind flicked back to the symbols on her shackles and she carefully compared them. They seemed to be similar, but there was a different number of lines… 'How can people understand such things?' Even when she squinted she couldn't seem to figure out what they meant in any way. 'Maybe they're not finished…'

"See? Then there are the kages of each village each having a different title to match the villages name- like ours is the Hokage and the Sands' is the Kazkage. We-" Sasaki was cut off as a white haired man with most of his face covered plummeted to the ground mere feet from them, causing Amaya to flinch back slightly.

Not even looking up from his drawing Sasaki switched his attentions to the newly arrived ninja. "Hey Kakashi- what's with the showy entrance?"

"We need to get going, the missions over and the faster we get back to the Village the faster she," He gestured to Amaya, "can get real clothes and the medical Ninja can take a look at her." His eye flicked to the ninja next to Sasaki. "Kaito, go scout a route to the Village. I'll send a message through Punken and let the Hokage know we've picked up a new addition to the Leaf Village civilian population-"

"Ninja." Sasaki interjected.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Ninja?" he repeated, "She's able to manipulate chakra?"

Adding a sweeping curve to a symbol Sasaki set the stick aside and looked up to meet his team leaders' gaze. "She says she has a certain energy that got her locked away. I haven't seen it yet, but a ninja would be have to completely untalented not to sense the buzzing in her." He shrugged, "If she's not considered ninja material I'm not either.

"Is that true?" Kakashi asked. Amaya shivered as his eye came to rest on her. 'He has power.' She thought nervously, 'More so than these two combined.' Looking up to meet his gaze she swallowed hard and clenched her hands as she felt her eye color start to change, giving her blue eyes a peculiar sheen.

"I-I was locked in the house because of my energy-" she glanced at Sasaki and corrected herself "-chakra color." she muttered faintly. "I'm not sure about what else you are talking about."

For a few minutes they stared at each other, neither moving, neither speaking, each one just observing and measuring the other with guarded eyes. A slight breeze blew through the trees, caressing Amaya's face with tender fingers and Kakashi finally looked away.

"Take her behind Kaito and make sure she doesn't pass out, okay?" Kakashi said, turning to face the other direction. Amaya stayed where she was, watching the peculiar 'ninja' trying to see past his cool façade. Sasaki placed a hand on her arm and she glanced up at him.

"C'mon, I can carry you if you're too tired-"

Too tired? She'd been through worse than what they had witnessed today and still had enough strength to do at least a hundred of the handstand push-ups she indulged in to keep from going completely insane.

Insulted by his words, she stood up silently and brushed past him to follow the path from Kaito she could still sense. No way would she put up with being slighted from a ninja that didn't know the meaning of tired.

"Hey- wait!" Sasaki called, watching the young girl they'd rescued start off surprisingly in the right direction with a stiff back and angry aura. "You don't know where you're going!" As if his words made her fury greater she jumped into the trees and sped off with an agility that almost surpassed most ninja. He chuckled slightly, if she still had an attitude after all the years of abuse she'd endured she'd be okay. A little untrusting, but okay to go on.

"Kakashi-" he turned to face the legendary Copy Ninja but stopped at his look.

"She's not a lost puppy Sasaki," Kakashi warned, "If anything she's a dog that's been beat too hard. You can't go expecting her to adapt right into village life."

Sasaki took a step back, shocked at his leaders words. "But I didn't say anything about expecting her to adapt right away-"

"I saw the look in your eyes," Kakashi cut in, "You've always had a soft spot for the children." His eye softened a bit but he didn't stop. "Even children can be killers, Sasaki- I've had to dispose of a few dangerous ones that would've set the world on fire if given half the chance. It's our job not to hesitate, to take out any potential threats to the village presented to us; and this girl-"

"Is a hurt child in need of our teachings and protection!" Sasaki snapped, brown eyes flashing. "She's been locked up in a house and beaten for seven years Kakashi, by the same people who were supposed to watch over and keep her from harm! We can't just let her suffer! We can't just kill her for being different!"

"So we should put everyone in the village in danger?" Kakashi murmured.

A breath of wind whipped through the trees, cutting between the two as the held each other's gaze, Kakashi's words ringing through Sasaki's ears.

Kakashi looked away towards the way Kaito and the girl had gone. "I respect your morals, Sasaki. It's honorable that you would want to shelter this girl, but life is hard- the ninja way even harder- if she's to successfully live our style of life… it's not a thing you can succeed in while being sheltered. She's going to have choices to make- choices you can't make for her. I suggest that when we return to the village you stay away from her, for both of your well beings. Spend some time with your wife, take a mission to another village so you can clear your head, I don't care, but you need to. Because Sasaki, if she makes the wrong choice, if she makes a choice that endangers the village-" He turned back to face Sasaki, and pushed up the forehead protector to expose his left eye "-I'll do what I have to, to protect the people I care about and I'll do the same to you if you move to shelter her from harm."

Sasaki felt his mouth go dry and a shiver shimmy down his spine as he stared, transfixed at the famous sharringan. Then he broke eye contact and turned away, prepared to jump into the trees. Paused. "You might think I'm foolish for caring- but you'd do the same for that nine-tails kid on your team. When you turn out wrong about Her nature I hope you apologize to her." He sprang into the trees and chased after the two already on their way to Konoha.

Pulling his forehead protector back down Kakashi sighed and turned to look the direction of the Girl's village. It wasn't that he wanted the girl to become a threat. She'd seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, a good will to survive that would make her an excellent ninja. But what the Elder had said when Sasaki had taken her to the forest…

"_How can you even call yourselves men!" Kakashi had demanded when the man had proceeded to threaten him for the girl. "You beat up little girls for fun to call yourselves warriors! I've only met a few people I'd refer to as absolute scum, but you've made it onto my list." Cries of outrage had shaken the village and fierce shouts for his head._

_The elder had lifted up a hand to silence them and turned to Kakashi. "You do not know what that girl is capable of, so you have no right to speak. She's a menace. A monster. She holds a power so great that when she was a mere infant and her mother was killed in the nearby forest she wiped out half the village with Chakra so black it was as if the darkness within her soul was leaking into the world to take vengeance! We tried to forget what she'd done. One of the family's in the village took her in and we tried to let her live as a normal child, but her power came forth again, not a year later when a young kid her elder by one year accidently shot a training arrow her way. Her eyes had gone silver and her face had contorted in a manner of fury such as I have never seen. If one of the older kids hadn't been around to knock her out with a stone she would've killed the boy who'd made a simple mistake." The old man had glared at Kakashi, "We attempted to get help- restraining the girl to a house while we called for it- but when the man traveled to see her and entered the house we barely waited scarcely an hours' time before she had somehow broken the seals we'd placed on her and attacked him. We are the ones saving the world from a fate of Death! If you wish to take her from here it will only bring everyone near that Devil spawn horror and sorrow!"_

Kakashi shook his head to clear it from the memory. It seemed absurd- the claim that the young girl could be capable of such feats… but he'd seen Naruto become pretty scary himself. Could it be possible that this girl, who wasn't even carrying a Demon within her, had power enough to match Konoha's number one most unpredictable ninja?

He had a lot to discuss with the Hokage, especially if She was going to become a ninja- he doubted she'd be in the Academy for long even if she didn't know the basics.

'Another complicated ninja,' Kakashi thought tiredly, quickly making a few hand signs before biting his thumb and pressing it to the ground. A puff of white smoke rose up and a small brown dog with a slightly squished face blinked up at him. "Hey, Kakashi."

"Punken, I need you to get to the village as fast as you can and tell the Hokage that our mission was a success but we're bringing back a potentially dangerous rescued girl that needs medical attention immediately."

"Right!" the dog saluted him then turned and darted off into the trees.

'This is either going to turn out really bad or really good for the village.'

**N/A:**_ ahhhh wasn't that refreshing? I thought so and I hope you enjoyed the beginning of this story… next chapter coming soon so keep reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi again i'm back with the next chapter which i must say is pretty long. it's a little slow but sort of required seeing as this is how most of the characters are introduced to Amaya

Please enjoy and read :)

Oh... and i do not... i repeat DO NOT own Naruto

I only own my character/ some of her abilities and any other things and/ or people that randomly show up that are not in Naruto (not saying there will be a lot of unknown-ness just trying to make a blanket statement)

ENJOY

* * *

><p><strong>~*Someone's Point Of View*~<strong>

"_This_ is The village hidden in the leaves?" Amaya asked eyes wide as she looked around at the tall buildings in which people wove leisurely through laughing and talking amongst themselves. It was all so big and populated… Her eyes flickered all over as she tried to take it all in as fast as she could, impossible though it was.

Besides her Kaito nodded. "Yup, village sweet village." He said with a cheeky grin. "Nothing like it in all of the Fire Country!"

Surprised to see the Ninja smiling at her Amaya almost tripped, and then promptly steadied herself before answering with a small smile herself. During the trek here Kaito had slowly been opening up further and further, going from a wary acquaintance that watched her every move in strained silence to a friendly face that liked to joke. Still, that was the first real smile he'd given her. She tugged on a piece of her hair; she decided she liked this kind of smile better than the blood thirsty ones her village always used.

Behind her Sasaki snorted and yawned. "You'd say that about any village that made good food- in fact you said that about the Village hidden in the Mist just last month!"

His teammate shrugged, "I can be a little dramatic."

"A little?" Sasaki repeated. His eyes went inconspicuously to Amaya, "Basic hand signs- go!"

Already accustomed to the random orders Sasaki tended to throw out, Amaya launched into them. "Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, Boar." Her hands moved at blinding speed as she named each one. The last one was executed perfectly and she relaxed her stance and looked up at Sasaki for approval.

"Whoa!" A Chunin exclaimed from behind the wooden desk Kakashi was currently bending over to right on a slip of paper. Curiously Amaya peered at him, taking in his brown eyes and hair that was restrained by a cap. "How long have you been practicing?" He asked, "You'd give me a run for my money at speed!"

Sasaki grinned widely at the mans' words. During the last leg of the journey Kaito had explained the basics to the young girl, showing her the signs and in under a few minutes she had memorized them- the speed was from two hours of practice while jumping from tree to tree.

"Well the sun was a little more to the east," Amaya said, shading her eyes and frowning. "But I'm not sure what time that would be…"

Kakashi glanced over at the so called 'Yasha' of her village and noticed she was attracting a little too much attention to herself than he would like. Her precision and swiftness _was_ impressive but he was still frustrated at Kaito for teaching the girl. The Hokage had yet to decide if the girl was even allowed in the village permanently let alone become a ninja and not only would it be a letdown for the kid but possibly hazardous if she figured out how to complete jutsu by herself. Which, judging by her talent with signs so far… was a probability. Better to distract her now while she was still ignorant.

"Hey, kid!" he called crinkling his one visible eye in an invisible smile, "Why don't you take a look around the village? I still have to get the paper work filled out here."

Immediately her face lit up, though she still had a façade of emotionlessness veiling her face halfway. "Really?" she exclaimed, turning straight to Kaito, "Can we?"

The shinobi shrugged. "I guess since you'll be living here and all it would be good to know your way around. C'mon- we'll start on through this street to get the ledge area overlooking the city then work or way back, and drop by the Barbeque place to eat before heading to the Hokage Building."

"Bar…. Be…Barbeque?"

Kakashi sighed as they walked off and shook his head. He had meant Sasaki as an escort when he recommended looking around. At least He wouldn't have spilled more ninja techniques to the girl. _'Oh well, can't help it now.'_

"Here, her temporary registry into the village- my signature will have to suffice until the Hokage can personally admit her." He pushed the form across the desk towards the two fellow Leaf Nin who were staring after the peculiar girl.

Ryouta was the first to notice the form and smirked. "Kakashi, we don't need a form. The Hokage sent a full clearance for her down over an hour ago," He pulled out a scroll with the Hokages Seal on it and flashed it at him, "We only needed you to initial that you'd brought her."

A feeling of stupidity overcame the Jonin. Of course the Hokage would've already delivered it.

Sighing yet again, he leaned over and briskly initialed where Ryouta indicated while Sasaki chuckled next to him, seeming to be enjoying his trip-up more than he did.

The two lowered ranked shinobi grinned and swiftly took back the papers.

"Hey- was the kid joking when she talked about the suns position and stuff?" Kenta inquired. "I mean we both know it would be impossible in that short amount of time to-"

Another thing to cause trouble. Kakashi gave a wave and caught Sasaki's arm to begin walking into the village, "Bye guys!"

When they were safely ingrained into the bustling of the streets Sasaki shot a sly look at him from the corner of his eye causing Kakashi to stiffen slightly. "You do know they're most likely talking about her already to someone else, right?" The chunin needled. He put his arms behind his head and laughed. "By tomorrow she'll be the talk of the entire village!"

Annoyed at the fact he was right, Kakashi replied with a slight, "Mmm."

'_No doubt she already is starting to be noticed just wandering the village—'_

"Kakashi Sensei!"

Curiously the white haired ninja twisted back to see who it was and found a young koniochi from his team running towards him with a big grin on her face. Haruno Sakura.

Sasaki arched an eyebrow. "Isn't that one of the– "

"Yep." The girl from the only team to ever pass the first of his tests.

"Kakashi Sensei, how was you're A-rank mission from the Hokage?" Stopping slightly in front the pink haired girl gave him a bright smile. "I've been practicing the jutsu you-" Her eyes caught Sasaki and she bowed. "S-sorry senpai-sama."

The good natured shinobi smiled. "No need to be formal, we're all ninja, I prefer people to call me Sasaki."

Sakura nodded. "Nice to meet you Sasaki-san." Abruptly she turned back to Kakashi and began where she started off. "I've been practicing the jutsu you showed us the other week and I think I only need a little more instruction on the seals to perfect it-"

Kakashi laughed, "It's nice to see you too Sakura, but unfortunately we need to head over to the Hokage's Building right away to report on the latest mission. I'll have to pick up this conversation in the next Team training, okay?"

Green eyes narrowed, "You're not just trying to get rid of me so you can start reading those Icha Icha books again, are you sensai?"

'_This girl knows me too well_,' Kakashi thought nervously. His mind went to the small book tucked away in his weapons pouch. _'Guess I'll have to refrain from reading it in her presence for a while…'_ He turned slightly as he walked with a smile under his mask to reply. "No, no, of course not! I haven't even touched the thing since I left the village."

Besides him Sasaki glared at him from the corner of his eye. He knew for a fact the Jonin had been reading it constantly throughout the entire mission. '_Lying to little girls, Copy Ninja?'_

Another thought popped into Kakashi's mind and he stopped walking. "Oh, hey Sakura could you bring some extra clothes to the Hospital for me? It's kind of important."

Taken aback by his sudden subject change the young ninja blinked. Extra clothes? "H-Hai!"

"Great! Well, see you later then."

"Mmm…" Sakura watched the two older ninja walk off unsurely, mind thinking about his last words. It was uncharacteristic for her Sensei to ask for favors outside of missions and training- and it was a request for clothes!

'_What are you up to Kakashi Sensei…?'_

* * *

><p><strong> ~*Kaito's Point Of View*~<strong>

"So what do you think of the village so far Kid? We got to see the flower shop and the music store you really seemed to find interesting. From here we can see the entire village!" Kaito announced proudly, he leaned into the wind over the railing and breathed in deeply. "So where do you want to go ne-" He turned around to find no one there. "-xt…?" He frowned, gaze traveling over the empty area. "Kid? Kid! Kid are you there?" When no answer came Kaito scratched his head. "I could've sworn she was right behind me…"

Had she gotten lost in the streets?

He looked back over the ledge to find the streets even busier than before.

'_Kakashi's going to kill me…' _His eyes skipped over all the bustling people trying to pinpoint a particular raggedy black haired girl. No luck._ 'Hopefully he doesn't get too angry, there is death and then there's Death.' _Kaito shivered,_ 'As long as I don't get to see his left eye I'm fine.'_

* * *

><p><strong> ~*Amaya's Point Of View*~<strong>

Amaya looked around the street desperately and dodged nimbly around shoving and feet crushing incidents. Her eyes flicked up to the signs hanging above stores and she scowled. This not being able to read thing apparently was no good in the outside world. Her eye caught with another person's gaze but before she could react the person gasped and hurried off.

'_Looks like people are the same everywhere.' _Amaya's fist clenched at her side as anger boiled up and her eyes turned hard. _'They see something they don't understand and fear.'_ And that fear could easily turn to hate- she knew that well.

Realizing that more than a few people were wearing similar looks like the man, her back stiffened and she tilted her head slightly so her hair fell completely in front of her face, hiding the sudden feral look that eclipsed her snowy features. She couldn't take it anymore. With a muffled snarl she bunched her leg muscles and launched herself over the heads of people and onto a nearby rooftop with a graceful movement that -if watched- was too fast to really grasp what had happened. Her toes curled on the smooth surface as she peered over the ledge at people who seemed to have ignored her movements with a glare. She sighed and tilted her head back as a breeze swept up to where she was. Apparently with ninja inhabiting this village abnormal jumping was of no importance or alarm.

Her gaze swept the crowd again and she frowned. _'Where are you Kaito?'_

There was a sudden loud noise on the roof behind her and she spun around find a peculiar looking boy around her age sporting an orange jumpsuit and a vicious snarl.

'_Who the heck…'_

Her thought was cut off as the boy let out a growl. "Filthy spy! You think you can spy on our village, huh? Well think again- I'm gonna be the next Hokage and I'm not going to let you get away with this! Believe it!" A kunai whizzed past her as her reflexes kicked in and she stumbled back slightly. Who was this guy?

Light glinted off of headband similar to Kakashi and Sasaki's and her eyes widened. If he had that, he was a ninja which meant that…

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Her jaw dropped as nearly twenty exact replicates of the boy appeared.

… he could use chakra. And with hers still being bound…

Her eyes flicked to the intricately carved shackles then rolled heavenward.

Another unfair fight.

"Let's get her guys!" One orange shinobi shouted.

The others all jumped into the air with grins. "Yeah!"

Amaya's eye twitched. There were people like this here too? The Baka's who only cared to improve their own worth? And here she'd been led to believe this village was different than the one they had taken her from. Exasperated, she sighed but redistributed her weight. If it was the case this village was no different than her old one she'd make one difference- she wouldn't be caught .

Using her superior speed she spun and launched herself over the street to the parallel roofs, not pausing as she spun quickly and shot across the expanse of roofs towards the mountain carved with faces. She winced as her feet stung and wept tears of scarlet against sharp rocks, but she didn't have time to stop. Behind her she could hear the outraged yells of the numerous orange ninja, all clamoring for her to give up.

Never.

Never again.

Lithe and nimble she jumped from the building she was on to a taller building, staying on the window ledges instead of climbing to the roof. If she could just…

There!

With a lightning fast movement, she spun, grabbed the ledge and swung down to the ground, pressing herself against the building as the rumble of her pursuers passed by. Strands of hair tried to drift down and she irritably shifted her neck to keep them from exposing her. After a few minutes of holding herself up her fingers began to twitch and she listened hard again before letting herself down with a tired sigh. All this activity was finally showing itself in the vague soreness of her muscles. It had been years since she had actually climbed a tree let alone for so long. Her thighs were killing her from overexertion.

She moved her foot to assure balance only to find that she'd stepped off the building. Her eyes widened and her heart stuttered. "Oops." Faster than she could blink she was plummeting towards the earth at an alarming rate, feet first. She attempted to scream, only to have it swallowed up by the wind- and for that she was thankful. What was wrong with her? A hundred lashes with a barbed whip couldn't rip a scream from her stubborn throat yet this… falling, could? It was ridiculous.

Keeping her eyes tightly closed against the dry grip of air, Amaya focused on feeling the moment her feet hit the ground. She would only have a split second to react and if she missed her chance she'd most likely break both her legs and more… it was hard to calculate the damage when she had never fallen from four stories up.

Feet brushed the ground. Abruptly, she rolled her feet and summersaulted in an attempt to distribute the force evenly through her body. Her body stopped in a stiff crouch and she winced; even with the quick movement the fall hurt like all get out.

"Oi! Are you alright?" Several small barks accompanied the voice and Amaya looked up dazedly at a blurry face.

"Huh?" She managed to say.

The world was rolling in front over, her muscles were all aching and her bones were throbbing from the inside out in a way she never conceived of. It was all she could do not to collapse. Not cry out as the feeling increased.

"Are you okay? You weren't using any chakra and that was a pretty high fall…"

Finally gaining control over the torture, Amaya shakily stood up and looked at the boy in front of her. Interesting. Her head tilted to the side slightly as she took in his strange appearance. The boy had wild brown hair flying every which way, more or less covered by a grey jacket hood… or was that the fur sown into the hood itself? She couldn't tell. He had red streaks on his tanned cheeks and his pupils were slit vertically with no iris to be seen. She frowned. Was that normal? She'd never seen eyes like those. And…why did he have a dog on his head?

"Hey!" A hand waving directly in front of her face broke her out of her thoughts and she returned to the present- where the strange boy was talking. "You don't look so good, y'know?" The dog on his head yipped and the boy nodded as though understanding. Which was impossible because people couldn't talk to animals- "Yeah boy, I think so too. She's looking a little shell shocked." He said. Exactly like he could understand what the small puppy was saying.

"A-are you Talking to your dog?" She exclaimed, eyes wide.

That snagged the boys attention. His pupils slid to her and he scratched the back of his head somehow around the dog. "Ah- yeah. He's a ninken." At her blank look he continued. "You know: A nindog. A certain breed of dog that becomes a ninja's partner in battle and essentially their best friend." Her expression didn't change and he looked at her in surprise. "You've never heard of a ninken?"

"I-I don't think so… I'm still getting used to the fact that you can talk to a dog…"

He burst out laughing, exposing sharp canine teeth in the process that glinted in the sunlight. "You must be new to the village. I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is Akumaru." The dog let out a friendly woof as his 'partner' slung out his hand to Amaya.

She hesitantly placed her hand in his, unsure how to complete whatever greeting he had initiated. "Amaya." She stated.

It was his turn to blink confusedly. "No clan name?"

"I was only ever called two names and they were not parts of a whole." Amaya explained.

"Well, what was the other?"

'_Should I tell him? Will he run?'_ She didn't think so. After all, he was the one with eyes like a wolf. But it didn't make it any less hard to force the word from her lips when she had spent seven years cringing at it. "I was called… Yasha."

"Yasha?" Kiba frowned. "That doesn't make any sense-"

He was cut off by another voice that made Amaya cringe. "Oi, Kiba! Grab her! She's a spy trying to infiltrate the village!"

"Naruto, you baka, what are you yelling about now?"

"The girl you're talking to! I found her sneaking around on the rooftops!"

That was all it took to gain a reaction from Amaya, with strength newly restored, she shot from the street and skidded around to weave into a busier one; the whole time hearing the two boys cursing after her.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' How had she forgotten about the orange clad boy?

"Watch out!"

"Oomph!"

Amaya hit a slender form with her lack of attention and then was sent sprawling in a rain of flowers and boxes. Groaning, she rolled over and put a hand to her head. Why did it seem like everything was going wrong today? Well besides the whole 'rescued from crazy village' episode. Now she was wondering if This village was worse for her health. Stuck in her little hut she never encountered loud mouthed psychos, giant heights to fall from, talking dogs, or painful flower bearers. It must be unique to here.

"What the hell?" An angry voice screeched. Amaya glanced down and found a red face blonde girl with fury blazing in her eyes. If she'd been a more expression laden person she would've probably gaped in horror, as it was her eyes widened perceptibly. "Do you think you can just run into me? Get off me, baka! I'll show you what happens when you knock me over, eh!"

Jumping clear of the girl Amaya arched an eyebrow at her. Was everyone so hostile? No she definitely recalled that the brown haired boy had been kind- until that blonde came running in. So maybe it was just this girl? As the girl pushed herself up muttering an assortment of names and curses under her breath Amaya nodded to herself. Yes, it could indeed be her.

"BAKA!"

Her cue to leave.

Before the girl could react, Amaya turned and darted into the crowd again, heading towards the line of green she saw faintly over the tops of buildings. That had to be a forest. And forests had more protection than city's; at least that's the way she saw it. The village was just too big and loud for her after being locked away for so long—

*thump*

Amaya let out a soft groan as she found herself, once again, sprawled out on the dirt. Was this some sort of karma?

"Oh- are you okay?"

She looked up and fought to keep a gasp in. There, in front of her was a… a… she didn't know What it was. It looked human-ish…. Stood like a human… but… Her eyebrow twitched. This being before her had a ridiculous bowl like haircut, unimaginably fuzzy eyebrows and… a green skintight suit of some kind. Her stomach churned uneasily. Even back at the village there hadn't been someone as peculiar as this. Then again, she hadn't really seen many people Besides the villagers. Maybe… Maybe this was how people normally looked? But Kakashi and Sasaki hadn't looked this way…

When she realized the, boy, was looking at her waiting for an answer she blinked. "Uh, yes."

"LEE! SHE'S A SPY GRAB HER!"

Oh not again.

The creature straightened and got a determined look in his eyes. "I cannot believe this youthful flower could be a spy! But since my dear friend yells so youthfully it must be true! I will save the village from you, deceptive youthful blossom! For I am the Handsome Green Devil From the Leaf, Rock Lee!"

With a last horrified look, Amaya jumped to her feet and sprinted away faster than she had ever run in her life.

She really didn't like this village.

* * *

><p><strong>~*Someone's Point Of View*~<strong>

"Come in."

Kakashi pushed the door open and sidled in, holding his favorite book in front of his face as he approached the Hokage at his desk. The older man frowned when he didn't see the other members of Hatake's team but decided to let it go; the infamous Copy Nin surely wouldn't do anything without reason. His gaze went to the smutty book and he shook his head. Even if his judgment was somewhat questionable there was always a good reason.

When the door closed the Hokage folded his hands in front of him. "Report, Hatake?"

The jounin sighed and stowed his book away in his weapons pouch for later, making the Hokage's eyebrows fly up.

"No book today?" He asked amused, it had been a long time since he'd seen Kakashi's face after a non-team 7 mission without a book. The amusement faded when he saw the serious look the ninja wore on his face.

"Not today, Hokage sir. I have some important, if not soon to be dangerous announcements to make."

"Then proceed."

"Hai! I'll start with the regular report first." Receiving a nod of affirmation he continued. "Our mission was a success. The scrolls were retrieved without hinder. No casualties were received or any fatal wounds. The criminals were dropped off at the Prison as instructed knocked out with little to no injuries and no innocents were hurt."

"Good, good." The Hokage nodded, taking a few notes down on a paper before grasping the scrolls Kakashi handed him and setting them aside next to his formal triangular hat. "Now, what was it that was so dire?"

The silver haired shinobi took a few seconds of silence to most likely word his next announcement carefully. "Hokage…" He began unsure how to put it since it was indeed an unusual occurrence even by Ninja standards. "... We found a ten year old girl… and brought her back to the village…"

"A girl." The Hokage repeated sounding half disbelieving and half bewildered.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Hai, sir. Kaito's showing her around as we speak."

"So you've brought a ten year old… into the village?" Kakashi nodded and the Hokage put a hand to his head. "And why is this so important again, Kakashi-san?"

At his words Kakashi blinked his one eye. "Oh, yes. We rescued her from her own village that was using her as a ceremonial 'Trial of passage' for young boys to fight. Apparently it's been going on for years and the girl's not even able to fight properly. From what I witnessed she was given no weapons of defense kept shackled and contained in a small arena so the men could beat her. It was inhumane to let her live like… like that… so we decided to take her with us. And it seems that she also has chakra."

At this the Hokage blinked, still not seeing the 'danger' in this cenario. "Well, I guess she's young enough to put into training at the academy so she can properly control it…"

"That's not really what I was getting at Hokage, sir. Her Chakra is supposedly completely different from normal and-"

A poof of smoke interrupted them and a nervous Kaito appeared in between.

"Kakashi… She's gone."

"WHAT?"

"I was showing her around and when I looked behind me she was just… gone. I think she might've been swept away in the crowd, seeing as she's not used to it…"

"You're a highly trained ninja," Kakashi growled taking a menacing step forward. "One of the Leafs' finest. And She- a ten year old, malnourished girl- Got. Away. From. You?"

Kaito winced and shrunk back towards the Hokage. "Hahaha! Yeah… apparently she'll make a better ninja than we thought with her being so quiet and all."

The corner of Kakashi's eye twitched.

"Kaito…"

Said teammate put his hands up in a defensive 'I-mean-no-harm-so-don't-kill-me' gesture as he continued to retreat backwards. "Now, now, Kakashi-san, no need to get angry; I'm sure between the two of us we'll be able to find her…" Kakashi glared and made a selection blurring hand signs until blue electricity started sparking off his hand.

"_**Chidori**_"

Completely at ease at what was going on, the Hokage smiled warmly at the two. It was always interesting to watch the carefree Nin go serious and angry. His old eyes flicked to his clock and he returned his gaze to a now frightened Kaito._'Hopefully he won't take too long with getting his anger out. I need to arrange a meeting…'_ He thought to himself.

Now he had to ponder when it would be the correct time to tell them that he already knew all about the girl because he'd been watching from his glass ball.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed reading i'll try to get the next chapter up sooner


	4. Chapter 4

A/N : I'm baaack! It feels great to be out on summer break and writing. This ones a little longer so enjoy... Special shout outs to MusicxButterflyX, MyLifeInWhole and jennku!

**MusicxButterflyX~ _Aw Thanks! I'm glad you like it... err... love it... haha you wanted more and here it is! enjoy!_**

**MyLifeInWhole~_ Hahaha yeah i guess Naruto is really the only one who would've believed she was a spy... Lolz but if he wasn't so ... well Him then he wouldn't be the Naruto we all know and love!_**

**jennku~_ Number one.. let's get this out of the way: YOU ARE AMAZING. Thank you for commenting on ALL of my current chapters!_**

**_ Chapter one~ sorry for making it sad.. but i did put in resuers like you said so it should be all better! It was important for her character development for her to go through this... does this make me a cruel Author? hmm... not sure... oh well_**

**_Chapter Two~ yes she does have a unique chakra! ...BUUUT im not going to tell you how becauuuuse it would spoil the story! Kakashi's being a meany in this one :P I like Kaito too :3_**

**_ Chapter Three~ Yay! Amaya doesn't look that weak anymore! Naruto naruto naruto... what is the ninja world ever going to do with you? I don't know! hehehe sakura is sorta ditsy... i'm glad you liked the Kaito-loses-Amaya part because that happened to be my favorite while writing... GO KAKASHI! lolz the Hokage is evilish.. meh_**

THANKS FOR REVIEWING YOU GUYS/GIRLS/ALIENS/NINJA!

Sorry if this isn't as amusing as the last but it is important! Seriously.. like important... ANYWAYS... enjoy

Oops almost forgot: Disclaimer: I own nothing of naruto in this story **_except for my Oc, her awesome 'specialness', her village and the mean people that live there, Kaito, Sasaki, and other things that will be revealed in time.  
><em>**

* * *

><p><strong>~*Amaya's Point OF View*~<strong>

Amaya grunted as she stumbled over a root for the umpteenth time since she had ventured into this forest. It had taken hours to lose her pursuers. Hours. In fact she had lost them a time before this only to have been exposed by a large boy with swirls on his cheeks yelling about her eating the last piece of barbecue, thus regaining their attention and sending her into fleeing yet again.

Her stomach grumbled loudly and she held it protectively with one hand, eyes going to the darkening sky with a hint of a glare. She had yet to eat anything besides the peculiar strip of meat she'd snatched off a table while on the run and that had been a very bad experience altogether. It had been _raw_. Not even the village had been so twisted as to give her something like that- half cooked or burnt, yes, but never completely raw. And the people inside had been eating it! What sort of place had she been brought to?

Stopping suddenly, she ran her fingertips over the nearest tree and stared at the texture in a slight awe. Some parts were rough and others smooth; a collage of patterns that formed one single entity.

When had it been since she had been allowed to roam free like this?

Her memories were a blur of pain, hate and confusion but she was sure she had experienced this... freedom… this feeling, somewhere before. She'd had to right? She'd been unshackled at a young age. So she had to have felt this way… Why couldn't she remember? Why? Why?

Without her even noticing it, Amaya's fingers curled into the wood hard enough to send splinters of it tumbling to the ground below.

She wanted to remember.

"Troublesome…" The voice broke her out of her trance and she blinked dumbly.

"Huh?"

Amaya turned slightly to locate the voice and was surprised to find that she was actually at the edge of a clearing. Curiously, she stepped forward and spotted a boy around her age lying on his back in the grass, gazing up into the heavens. Her head tilted to the side slightly. 'Troublesome…' the word rang through her head and she frowned. _'That's what he said… but how could the sky by troublesome?'_

Unable to help herself, Amaya went forward to investigate, suddenly forgetting everything else except the need to figure out what this person was talking about.

* * *

><p><strong>~*Unknown Person's Point of View*~<strong>

"How is the sky troublesome?" A small voice asked.

The boy lying amidst the grass blinked and tore his attention away from the clouds to tilt his head over to where the sound had come from. A young girl around his age, most likely younger judging by her wide eyed innocence, was standing a few yards away. Her pale skin was smudged with dirt and her long black hair unkempt, but she didn't seem troubled by it like most girls he knew would be. There was a large tattered shawl-like cloth that was draped unevenly over her, covering down to her knees where brown shorts-a few shades darker than the top- peeked out, frayed and ripped.

"Eh?" Was the only thing he managed to get out as he was still in shock over her appearance and the fact she had been able to sneak up on him.

She didn't look like a ninja.

Apparently taking his startled response as encouragement, the girl stepped closer. A flicker of uncertainty and unease eclipsed her features, but quickly flashed away. "I asked why you found the sky bothersome." She reiterated. Her eyes lifted to the sky now bathed in orange before refocusing on him again. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

Perplexed, the boy lifted his own eyes to what she had pointed out before giving her a weird look. "Nothing's wrong with it, I guess."

"But then why did you call it troublesome?"

"I didn't…"

"I heard you," She pointed off behind her and looked at him without turning her head from the direction she'd indicated, "Over there in the trees. I was wandering around thinking and I heard you speaking. 'Troublesome' you said." She faced him "But when I found you, you were just staring up and around. So, what is so troublesome?"

Confused, the boy furrowed his eyebrows and propped himself up on his elbows. He'd come to this clearing to relax and watch the clouds and then he'd started to think… Choji… training…Naruto…missions… ahh, he'd been thinking about Ino and her inane ability to blabber endlessly on about Sasuke- even if she was in the middle of being attacked. He sighed just thinking about it. How troublesome.

"I was thinking about a teammate."

Her head shifted to the right and she frowned. "You're a ninja right?"

Shock ran through him and he immediately went back into hyperawareness. "Yeah." He said cautiously.

"So… ninja are organized in teams then?"

'_Weird girl._'

"Most of the time I guess. Why are you wondering?"

The girl shrugged and returned to looking up into the sky, her feet shifting restlessly. "Just curious. What were you looking at?"

Again the boy found himself blinking. If he wasn't careful the girl could no doubt give him whiplash with how fast she changed subjects. He replayed what she had said in his head then rolled back into a laying position. "Just the clouds." He said, thinking she'd most likely scoff or ask another annoying 'why' question. The girl was far too curious.

"Hmm… they're beautiful, yes? I don't get to see them usually, but sometimes I wish I could fly up there and see what makes them so peaceful."

Wide-eyed the boy looked back to see her still staring at the sky. "Not during a storm they're not."

"A storm…" She suddenly looked back down at him with a sad far-off glaze to her eyes as if she wasn't really there in the present. "I've never seen one before… not one I remember. How does it look? I've smelt it before and felt the air charged with it… but what does it feel like on your skin? Does it taste better out in the open? Is there really such a thing as lightning?"

Stunned at her muses the boy straightened up again, suddenly wanting to know the who of this strange person. "I'm Nara Shikamaru. Who are you?"

Blue eyes flickered silver then un-fogged. "Amaya."

"Why don't you know any of this," Shikamaru asked. "It's not like you've been living under a rock this whole time."

"More like in a shack."

"Huh?"

The 'Amaya' girl shook her head and waved it off. "Aren't you glad you're free to see these all the time?"

Shikamaru stared at her for a moment then nodded. "Yeah, I usually enjoy just watching them, I have my own spot on the roof for it and everything but I couldn't use it today because of remodeling or something. Are you not allowed to see them, or something?" the way she was looking at them made it seem like they were miracles.

Amaya frowned. "Well… I guess _now_ I am. At least I hope so… it would be great if I could see them every day."

Now she really was starting to creep him out. Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably on the grass looking anywhere but at the girl who seemed to be the first person in a long time to make him uneasy. "You make it sound like you were enslaved."

"Was that what happened? I don't really know…" She lifted her arms up and stared at them. Shikamaru blinked rapidly when he saw the metal shackles glinting at him from her wrists, mouth falling open slightly. She continued on, not noticing his reaction. "It would explain these though. I really don't like them, there's always this pressure in my stomach as if someone's delivering an everlasting punch; not very painful but uncomfortable."

"I-" A chorus of screams echoed through the trees, cutting him off.

"THERE SHE IS!"

Shikamaru looked up in surprise to find most of the young shinobi in the village coming crashing through the trees towards them. His eyes went to an expressionless Amaya then back to his colleges. Would he have to step in to make sure she didn't get hurt? "Troublesome." He muttered under his breath, already getting ready to jump up in front of her.

There was a loud 'snap!' and suddenly everyone coming at them stopped.

"Found you!"

Both Shikamaru and Amaya glanced back to see a smiling white haired Jonin squatting near them.

The Jonin stood to collect his charge and whisk her off to the Hokages' office only to stop and Sweatdrop. Around him was Konoha's newest generation of shinobi all dangling from various positions in the trees. Naruto was shouting crazily about spies hanging from a vine by one foot, while next to him a passionate Lee was wrapped up tight against the underside of a tree branch with fire in his eyes. Ino was practically foaming at the mouth, struggling against her bonds currently suspending her by her arms above the ground. Kiba was pinned to a tree with a yipping Akamaru biting at the green restraints and an enraged Choji yelled about food next to him.

Kakashi sent a look to the young genius-the only shinobi besides him in the clearing **not** trapped that clearly said: 'did you do this?' and the lazy ninja shook his head and gestured over to the girl.

"Kakashi!" Amaya greeted happily, waving.

"How do you two know each-" Shikamaru stopped talking as an unconscious Amaya dropped unceremoniously into his lap. "Huh?"

Kakashi sighed and bent to pick up the now unconscious girl, tossing her over one shoulder. _'Trouble, trouble, trouble. I knew she was going to bring it with her.' _He thought in exasperation. He looked at Shikamaru. "I'm taking her to the hospital, she's been missing for most of the day, it's no wonder she's exhausted." He received a nod.

"HEY KAKASHI SENSEI GET ME OUT OF THIS WILL YOU!" The Leaf's most unpredictable ninja hollered from his suspension.

Kakashi saluted him and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Leaving Shikamaru to deal with the five furious ninja of his class; he shook his head at his bad luck. Today was turning out to be a very eventful day in Konoha.

"DAMN IT KAKASHI SENSEI! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! I'M GONNA BE HOKAGE SOMEDAY AND THEN YOU'LL—"

"SHUT UP BAKA! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE HOKAGE! UGHH NOW I'M GOING TO MISS WATCHING SASUKE TRAIN! DAMN THAT GIRL!"

"I WILL NEVER GIVE UP! I WILL FIND THE GIRL AND SAVE THE VILLAGE BECAUSE I AM KONOHA'S HANDSOME GREEN DEVIL ROCK—"

"SHUT UP WILL YOU? THAT GIRL WASN'T A SPY NARUTO-BAKA! AND LEE YOU SHOULD BE SMARTER THAN THAT! LISTENING TO THAT BAKA! DID SHE LOOK LIKE A SPY TO YOU?"

"BARK! BARK BARK! BARK!"

"MY LAST PIECE OF BARBEQUE!"

Skikamaru sighed and reclined back onto the grass, pulling out some earplugs.

"Troublesome."

* * *

><p><strong>~*Amya's Point Of View*~<strong>

"I wonder who she is…" fingertips brushed softly over Amaya's pale cheek and for a second the ten year old let herself enjoy the contact, turning slightly into the intimate touch. No one had touched her in a long time… This was the first kind touch not initiated by reason. This person was touching her just because…

'_Filthy creature! Look at the pitiful eyes. It's trying to trick us!'_

_WHACK_

'_Don't complain to me! We house you. We keep you fed and you do absolutely nothing for this village! You should be put to death!'_

All of the contact she remembered was malicious and full of hate… Every single one given by people who wore sneers on their face.

All…

All accept one…

The one who never showed his face…

'_Child, I've come here because your village thought you needed help.'_

_A six year old Amaya glared at the newcomer swathed in black and focused on his gold eyes. 'Lie.' She stated plainly._

_The being chuckled. 'Yes, I suppose it is' The child blinked up in surprise, unused to this reaction. 'Do you know why they keep you in here, child?'_

'_Because I did something bad. Because I don't belong. Because I don't deserve to exist.' She recited from the comments she'd heard constantly._

'_No, child. They,' the figure raised a pale finger toward the door, 'keep you in here because they fear you.'_

'_W-why? I try to be good… I try…'_

_Cold mirth trickled through the air and the figure leaned forward. 'No, fear is good. Fear brings you power and power brings you all you could ever want. Wouldn't you like to be out of here? Away from these horrors they put you through?'_

'_B-but they take care of me-'_

_An outraged hiss interrupted her and the figures eyes flashed. 'FOOL! THEY DON'T TAKE CARE OF YOU' pale hands reached for her, 'LOOK AT ME AND SEE—'_

_As soon as their flesh touched her own pain erupted._

"MMmmH!" Amaya was jerked into the present with a startled cry; the icy adrenaline still pouring through her veins from the memory. Eyelids flew open, blue clashing with green before her instincts over took her and she moved. In a fluid motion, her body extracted itself from crisp white sheets and arched gracefully to the tile. She landed in a crouch, focus centered on a surprised girl…. With _Pink _hair. Amaya's eyes widened. When would she ever stop getting surprised by this place?

The girl seemed to shake herself, and then smiled softly in her direction, effectively stunning her just enough that she almost lost her balance.

"Konichiwa! I'm Haruno Sakura, what's your name?"

Amaya blinked. "K-kon-konichiwa." She repeated quietly.

If it was possible the girl seemed to be even happier at her reply. "How are you feeling? The nurse told me that when Kakashi-Sensei brought you in you were feinted from dehydration."

Kakashi… Dehydration…

It all suddenly came rushing back. The shouting and chasing and… Amaya grabbed her head and held in a frustrated moan… the orange ninja. Why was it that it all started with him?

Hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders and she let out a startled gasp, flinching violently away in an instinctual act built on years of experience: if someone's bothering to touch you then you're in trouble. Surprisingly the grip was firm and she found she couldn't break out of it as easily as she would like. Her blue eyes flicked up to see the pink haired girl staring at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Amaya's eyes narrowed and held the girls for a few moments before she relaxed slightly in disbelief. This girl… she truly cared what her answer was. Her head tilted slightly to the side at the discovery and she scrutinized the face of her more closely. To have someone caring about her like this… it was peculiar. Yes, the three ninja who had rescued her had cared for her, but none had really asked if she was okay. She found that she sort of liked the feeling even if it did make her uncomfortable.

Seeing her waiting for an answer she nodded. "Hai."

"Oh that's good," The girl said in a sigh. "I would've felt horrible if I had been the one to cause you to get hurt when you're still in the hospital!" Amaya frowned… what was a … hospital? Suddenly the girl jumped and grinned. "Oh that's right!" Before Amaya could make anything of it the pink girl darted away and around the bed to shift through a bag of some sort.

"No… not that… not this…" Amaya squinted at the girls grumbling yet remained where she was. "How could I lose such a- OH here it is!" A bundle of blue was presented to her and Amaya just stared. What was she supposed to do with it?

"It's clothes." The girl explained. "Kakashi Sensei told me to get you some because yours are… well, not considered clothes anymore. Here," She pushed them into Amaya's hands then grabbed her by the wrist to pull her along behind her.

"Wha- where?"

"Ssh, I'm just going to take you to the bath so you can get properly clean."

"B-bath?"

"Yeah, come on, it's not like you've never had a bath before!"

Amaya could do nothing more than follow behind meekly with wide eyes. "Bath?" She repeated. Oh she had a horrible feeling she wasn't going to like this.

"STAY STILL WILL YOU?" There was a crash and a loud yelp. Amaya did not like baths. She did not like them at all. They felt like you were just stranded, surrounded by so many threats. When she had closed her eyes like Sakura had told her too she could only hear the shouting voices of the villagers and the feeling of hands encircling her neck and pressing her down into the waters depths. She was not getting into that bath again.

No.

Matter.

What.

"KYAAA!" Amaya winced as the pink haired girl screamed next to her ear but didn't release the hold she had on the girls arm. "You wanted your hair cut so I'll need to get it wet!" 'Wet' Amaya thought disdainfully. Wet, did not require dunking ones head under water. Wet could be obtained by simply bringing the water to one's hair. Yet here this Sakura sat trying to force her head back into the water. _'Just like it used to be back in my village… everything obtained by force.' _With a lithe movement she plucked the metal knife from her hands.

"I will solve the problem." Amaya said calmly. Before the girl could react she grabbed a handful of now clean hair and sliced through it in one movement. Immediately she felt as if some weight had been lifted off her shoulders- whether it be physically or something else she was just glad it was gone.

Sakura stood there with her mouth wide open for a few seconds and then to Amaya's curious amusement, her entire face went red. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Keeping her cool expression, Amaya scrutinized the girl farther. She was growing tired of the constant screaming; after all that's why she'd taught herself to repress such cries: after a few hours of it even one's own cries became annoying. "I cut my hair." Why was it so hard to understand? One length was fisted in her hands while the other was still attached to her head and brushing her shoulders. It was cut. Severed. Separated into two parts.

Apparently the pink haired girl did not like her answer because she screeched in outrage. "You can't just hack away at it! Now there's different lengths and it's too short to fix!" Sakura explained. Amaya watched as she stood there as if waiting for Amaya to suddenly come to a horrifying realization and start shouting and crying and breaking down.

'_How… peculiar.'_ Leaving the girl where she was, Amaya turned on her heal and walked over to a mirror to inspect her new look. Sakura was right, it was choppy and uneven in places making it look fuller and ruffled but at least it seemed the layers were level all the way around. Unfortunately, when she had chopped the hair off she'd grabbed it from the side so, consequently, the right side of her hair by her face was shorter than the rest and flopped forward somewhat. Amaya frowned. It was bothersome. She'd be unable to see around it if she was unlucky… With a decisive thought, she tightened her grip on the knife and brought it up towards her hair. '_One slice…'_

"NO!" The knife was knocked from her grasp with lightning speed and it landed in the tile with a loud 'thunk'. Passively, she turned to look at Sakura. "Leave your hair ALONE! It looks fine. If you cut your bangs I'm going to cut the strands again so you have the bangs!"

Amaya raised an eyebrow. The people here were weird, but it didn't really matter since she didn't care particularly about the hair style. She had just wanted it cut because she hated how it was used against her and since that was clearly accomplished it was no point in arguing. "Hn." She muttered.

Sakura sighed in front of her looking like she'd just won an exhausting war. It was amusing in a way. "Okay, you need to get dressed and then I can drop you off at the barbeque place that everyone's at." Sakura said. "Here," She placed the clothes in Amaya's hands again and turned to leave the room. "I'll wait outside… I suggest putting on the shorts first and the sandals last or it might make things a little awkward to get on." The door clicked closed.

'Hmm…'

Curiously the dark haired girl looked at the bundle in her hand consisting of light blue, white and black. Her pale fingers plucked at the string tied around it experimentally and it rolled open without a hitch. A light smile touched her lips when she saw the material.

"New clothes."

* * *

><p><strong>~*Someone's Point of View*~<strong>

When would they get here? Hatake Kakashi sent a one-eyed glance towards the entrance through the weaving forms of people and frowned. She couldn't have possibly been so worn out as to be sleeping so long; of course if she'd been civilian status it would've been a normal occurrence but that was the thing, everything he'd been shown of her since they'd executed the rescue side mission pointed directly at un-civilian status. The stamina, the senses, the memorization and finally the traps earlier this evening… He sweatdropped slightly, just recalling the event. That had been a rather interesting sight to pop in on. It didn't exactly qualify her for ninja life but still, it wasn't everyday he got to see Konoha's ninja youth strung up like ornaments by simple tricks.

"Psst…" a familiar voice hissed across from him. "Lighten up Hatake, Sakura will bring her in eventually. It's not like the girl will disappear a second time!"

Kakashi's eye narrowed and slashed to the man who was speaking. Kaito. "Did she disappear, Kaito, or was she lost?" Kakashi snarled dangerously. "I seem to be having a hard time remembering." He wouldn't admit it but he was still smarting over what had happened earlier- when he'd found out in front of the Hokage that the air head had lost the girl. Even after taking his anger out on him for over ten minutes the fury still remained. How could one lose a girl for Kami's sake?

From across the table Kaito winced and absently rubbed his black eye. He had known it was too good to be true when Kakashi had reverted back to his old self when they'd reached the Barbeque place, and now he knew for sure that the ninja was still holding a grudge. _'When will I ever get to live it down?'_ Kaito thought dejectedly.

A chopstick whizzed past Kaito's ear and he yelped, looking over to see who'd thrown it- half suspecting Kakashi to have been the culprit. Seeing the man angry really had opened his eyes to the Copy Ninja's violent ways. Swallowing at the memory, he blinked to clear his vision only to find Naruto and Choji yelling furiously at each other.

"—RAMEN'S WAY BETTER THAN BARBEQUE! BELIEVE IT!" The blonde genin shouted.

"I LOVE ALL FOOD BUT EVEN I KNOW THAT BARBEQUE IS THE BEST!" His larger opponent declared.

"NO WAY! RAMEN IS!"

"BARBEQUE!" Choji said.

Naruto pounded his fist on the table. "RAMEN!"

"BARBEQUE!"

"RAMEN!"

Having heard enough of their argument Ino let out an irritated growl before slamming her hand to the table and pointing crazily at them. "YOU TWO BETTER KNOCK IT OFF BECAUSE YOU'RE COMPLETELY EMBARESSING THE REST OF US WITH YOUR YELLING! WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK THE BEST FOOD IS? YOU BOTH HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES!" Kaito arched an eye brow in watching the scene unfold. Was Ino actually arguing over something besides Sasuke? And was she actually trying to help the situation? "BESIDES, IT'S NOT LIKE YOUR OPINION MATTERS- BAKAS! Only Sasuke-kun can decide which food is best."

Kaito's eye twitched and he laughed sheepishly. He'd been getting his hopes up for nothing…

"Man, this is so troublesome." A tired voice said from beside the ninja. He looked down to find Nara Shikamaru leaning lazily on the table, chin and half his cheek resting in his palm.

'So different from his enthusiastic teammates.' Kaito observed curiously. "Oy, Shikamaru-san" he started, "Aren't you going to try to stop your teammates?" A glance to the arguing group made him rephrase his question. "Or at least save one of them from the other?"

Brown eyes rolled up to look at him, and the young man yawned. "Ne, Ino won't hurt them too much, and Naruto's too much of a baka to take the hint and shut up so he'll make her mad before he try's anything and once Ino's mad you can't really stop her…" he yawned again and sunk down so his head rested ontop of his arms on the table. "They'll eventually settle down- most likely when that one girl gets here. The real question is whether we'll get kicked out before she gets here or not."

Somehow that didn't make Kaito feel better.

"Hey, Akamaru, what do you say we get out of here before the bakas wear off on us, eh?" Kiba whispered to the dog resting atop his head. The small puppy barked softly in answer and Kiba grinned lopsidedly. "Hai, Hai, Akamaru, we'll just have to wait to find the girl later and make sure she's okay." His slit eyes went around the table and he chuckled. "Besides, she'll need someone to check on her after she comes out of this… who knows how damaging spending time with these people will be."

Something stirred near his elbow. "Ne, ne Kiba-san. I hope you aren't talking about me."

Wide-eyed Kiba twisted around to find Kakashi looking at him from over his book. "Iie, iie Kakashi-sensei! Of course I wasn't." he laughed nervously, making his laughter louder than usual, and put an arm behind his head. "I was just thinking about the effect Naruto could have on the girl!"

The Jounin smiled beneath his mask, eye crinkling as he turned back to his book. "No sneaking out yet Kiba. I'd prefer it if you stayed."

Kiba sighed dejectedly; it didn't sound like a request.

"THE FLOWER IS HERE!" Rock Lee suddenly exclaimed, jumping up from the table so rapidly Ino yelped and fell into Naruto, who bumped into Choji. "YOUTHFUL FLOWER!" He hurled himself at a figure approaching the table with the intent of grabbing her up in a Youthful hug. Blue eyes widened and then suddenly the figure moved in a twirling blur of white and rich blue to dodge the bone crushing embrace. "FLOWER?" Lee's body kept going and he crashed to the floor at her feet.

Eye crinkling, Kakashi chuckled slightly. It was amusing how the two interacted with Lee being so open and touchy-feely and the girl so distant. He watched drolly as she merely peered down at the fallen boy with an expressionless face; he assumed that courtesy and apologies were something- like Barbeque- never presented to the girl. Ignoring Lees continued words of 'youthfulness' Kakashi took the time to see if the clothes Sakura gave her fit. To his amusement it looked as if Sakura had given her a double of her own outfit in a blue color that brought out her eyes. Pale thin legs peeked out from the side slits of the ninja wear surprisingly muscled for one having been stuck in confinement for over seven years, but he guessed that would be expected from all the 'challenges' she'd had. The black shorts going down to mid-thigh seemed to fit well enough and her black sandals seemed secure enough to run in. the big shock he found in her appearance though, was that the child no longer had a mane of hair that came down to near her knees. Now her hair was shoulder length and choppy with bangs sheltering part of her face from view. She was an adorable child without all the grime and dirt of being captive.

Abruptly, a thought struck Kakashi: he didn't even know the girls name. He knew what they had reffered to her as in the village she used to reside within but he doubted she'd appreciate being called 'yasha' unless she'd grown apathetic towards that kind of thing, but even if she had using such a term would be cruel. Inwardly cursing himself he looked towards Kaito.

"Kaito," the ninja looked up to meet his gaze. "Do you know the girls name?"

A cough of laughter erupted from the man. "Well, well , well Kakashi," he chuckled, eyes sparkling with amusement, "After all this time spent worrying over her wellbeing, and her effect on the village, and her abilities, yet you don't even know her name?" Kakashi twitched slightly but held his tongue so he'd find out the name. "That's a little sad, don't you think? I mean, even I—" Kaito cut off and swallowed hard, before looking guiltily over at the girl. "Oh man, I didn't get her name either."

Of course not.

Kakashi put a hand to his head and sighed, Icha Icha book drooping slightly in his other hand. What would happen if he ended up having to ask her name? He would seem utterly foolish, but besides his pride being bruised there was bound to be more severe repercussions. Would she withdraw? Would she get angry? Would it even affect her? His head throbbed at the complexity of figuring out how the child would respond. This was really not good—

"Amaya-Chan!" A ball of fur went streaking towards the girl and, surprisingly, she didn't dodge.

* * *

><p><strong>*~Hokage's Point of View~*<strong>

"So you see, it is of the utmost importance that we find a home for this child." The Hokage concluded, looking around at the faces gathered within his office. He'd called all of the prominent ninja families in to hear him out; even the Clans were here. It had taken over an hour to explain the situation and so far it seemed that none were too enthusiastic towards his words. Unfortunately, that would bring trouble.

"Hokage-sama," a refined voice said. The Hokage looked over to see Hyuuga Hiashi stepping towards him with a slight frown crease in his brow. "It is not unheard of for a child to be found out on missions and to be brought back to Konoha for a better life but, it is however a first for that child to have been residing within her own village when our Ninja found her and not only that, for her to be considered too dangerous to let her chakra go unbound. It brings unease to my thoughts that we are allowing such a probable threat into the village."

The Hokage nodded; he had been expecting something of that nature from Hiashi, though he would rather have been wrong. "I understand your concern Hiashi-san." The elder man responded, lightly touching the top of his traditional hat at the edge of his desk. "But the fact remains that we have the girl in our village and she is in need of someone to take care of her. She is only around ten years of age, exhibiting ninja traits even with her rocky start on life and seems to have a unique innocence of the world even though she was exposed to such cruelty's. I know that there is possibility that she could indeed become a liability if her mind is unstable or something triggers a reaction in her but I also know that she could become a great ninja if given the chance." He folded his hands of his face and gazed around the room. "She has excellent stamina, an exceptional memory and, most important of all, a strong will to live. It is of my will to give her a chance."

At his words an immediate uproar erupted.

"How can we know we're not letting a monster into our house?"

"WE HAVE OTHER CHILDREN! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT US TO PUT THEM AT RISK?"

"Isn't living with the nine-tails in the village bad enough?"

"Maybe she was contained for a reason!"

"Perhaps if we were to inspect her mind we'd all feel more at ease…"

"A demonstration of power might soothe over some feelings. We have the title of the clan to look after, afterall."

"SHE'S PROBABLY UNSTABLE!"

"How can we welcome a child like that?"

Amidst the whole outburst, only one figure besides the Hokage had remained quiet. At last he raised his head.

"Hai." The word seemed to still many of the people within the room.

The Hokage inclined his head slightly. "Shikaku-san?"

Serious eyes met the old leaders, a scar across one seeming to give the man a more intimidating air. "I'm willing to take her in. Yoshino might grumble a bit but I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

Marginally taken aback, the Hokage leaned back in his chair. Out of all the gathered he would've thought that Nara Shikaku would've been one of the least inclined to accept the girl as he was of a quieter more private upbringing. And the Nara Clan had plenty of secrets in its own that could be fatal if exposed. "Are you sure?" he asked after a moment.

"Hai." The other man nodded decisively.

"Alright it's settled then; but I do ask one thing of you, Shikaku-san."

"And what is that?"

"I wish for you to grant the girl a temporary adoption with your family first. Think of it as a trial run. If the girl is not happy for some reason or does not get along with your family it will give her a chance at happiness elsewhere."

Speculatively the scarred man narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly in thought. A few moments of strained silence preceded the question then he finally grunted assent. "Fine. One month should suffice for your needed trial."

The Hokage smiled behind his hands at the answer. It would seem that the girl called a Demon her entire life would reach the light by the help of shadows.

Interesting…

Interesting indeed.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>PREVIEW:<span>_**

****"SHE'S A SPY I TELL YOU!"

"SHUT UP BAKA! FOR THE LAST TIME: AMAYA. IS. NOT. A. SPY!"

"I SAW HER ON THE ROOFS, BELIEVE IT!"

"AND YOU YOURSELF WERE ON THE ROOF! DOES THAT MAKE YOU A SPY?"

"NO! I'M FROM THIS VILLAGE- I'M ALLOWED ON THE ROOFS!"

"SHE'S FROM THIS VILLAGE NOW TOO BAKA!"

* * *

><p>AN: haha i'll let you guess who that was in the preview... to tell you the truth the third, fourth and soon to come fifth chapter were all supposed to be in one but when i started getting to the 15 pages i was like... no this is not going to be one chapter. :D hopefully i'll finish the one chapter i had planned in the three chapter long length. Lolz

hope you enjoyed!

Review/ Fav/Alert whatever you want! i'll update soon


	5. Chapter 5

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE!

My internet went out and well... the rest is history..

special shout out to Jennku because this amazing person never gave up on me or my story ;)

I've taken enough of your time i think...

Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto!

* * *

><p><strong>~*SOMEONES PV*~<strong>

"So…Amaya…" Kaito started out hesitantly. "How did you like the village on your little unauthorized excursion?" From across the table Kakashi sent the ninja a fierce glare that seemed to crackle with the latent power of Chidori. Inwardly Kaito winced at that, shifting slightly in his seat. Chidori was not a particular punishment he wanted to endure again in the near future. He shuddered.

"I…" The girl frowned-though the only hint of it was a somewhat furrowed brow- and looked down at the puppy snuggled into her lap; stroking a hand down its pelt. Her eyes seemed to glaze over slightly in contemplative reflection before she blinked it away and bit her lip. "It is very lively." She said finally.

From besides her next to Kaito the lazy boy genius snorted. "Yeah, I'll bet ," he agreed yawning. "First day in the village and you get chased down by Konohas over active knucklehead."

At the other side of the table said blonde jumped up. "HEY! I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE EVERYONE ELSE WAS CHASING HER TOO! BELIEVE IT!" he yelled stomping in frustration. He was prevented from continuing his obnoxious ranting when annoyed girl yanked his ear so he sat down; face ever so calm as she inspected her nails, the only trace of her emotion was the vein pulsing angrily in her forehead.

"Quiet down idiot," she stated dully, "I already missed seeing Sasuke today, I don't need you ruining today any further with your pathetic lies."

"Ino," Amaya looked over to focus on the large boy eating his way through his fifth bag of barbeque chips since she'd arrived. He paused in speaking to shovel the snacks into his mouth. "Weren't you," he chewed. "Chasing her," he swallowed. "With us?"

His statement seemed to upset her even more as her fingers twitched against the table. "Why I ought to…" she whipped around, long hair smacking the poor kid in the face and growled. "_Choji!"_

Staring wide eyed at the two as Ino abruptly started yelling wildly at the boy named Choji Amaya slowly shrunk away, cuddling the dog- she'd now found out was named Akamaru- closer to her chest as she made herself as tiny as possible. There were too many memories of yelling like this. The guards sometimes got into fights while they were on duty and screamed at each other for hours and then afterwards the one who lost often came in and bullied her.

Noticing her discomfort Shikamaru straightened slightly. "Hey you guys, knock it off, you're giving me a headache." He grumbled.

Kiba nodded in agreement from the other side of the table. "Yeah, and you're scaring Amaya- right Akamaru?" The nin-dog yipped agreement from said girls lap and sent a growl at Ino from across the table.

Amaya looked over. "Don't stop on my account. I'm fine, just… trying to get use to all the people…" her blue eyes scanned over the surrounding area and all the people curiously eyeing the table she was seated at. More specifically the people sitting there. More specifically her. She cringed slightly. She hated all the attention. When she received attention it was when she was just before or during when she was nearly killed.

There was another loud bang and she quickly looked over, muscles tensing slightly.

"SEE!" Naruto exclaimed pointing. "SHE'S SCOUTING OUT OUR VILLAGE! SHE'S A SPY I TELL YOU! A SPY!"

"Naruto…" Kakashi said gloomily from his side of the table, desperately trying to hide his head behind his Icha Icha book as more attention was paid to the ninjas' table. Somehow he just knew this was going to get back to Gai or Iruka and he was never going to live it down. How did he end up with the obnoxious kid again? Oh that's right; he'd gotten him because he got the Uchiha. His depressed state increased. Sometimes he wondered if he would've been better off getting a group of average genin.

Fortunately, before any more fights could break out or Naruto could say something even more idiotic a smiling waitress came over to deliver the baskets of meat for frying. Everyone thanked her happily then turned hungrily on the baskets and immediately set to grilling the meat. Well, everyone except Amaya who sat at her seat looking like she was going to hurl as she watched the ninja start to devour the meat after a few minutes of cooking. It looked a bit different than when she had tried it but she was positive it was the same type of food she'd snatched off a table a couple hours back and she was not willing to go through the pain of ingesting that again. A shudder ripped through her skeletal form. Just thinking about it was disgusting.

Shikamaru glanced sideways at her as he brought a piece of meat to his mouth with chopsticks. When he saw her not eating he frowned. "Hey, Amaya." She met his gaze. "Aren't you going to eat some? You look like you haven't eaten in ages."

"I-Iie." Amaya stammered out, wincing at the memory of eating the meat.

The boy sighed. "Troublesome…" he grabbed another piece of meat from the grill that was done with the back of his chopsticks and put it on the girls plate. "Here, just try it. If you don't like I won't bother you about it again, ne?"

Amaya looked at the steaming meat then at Shikamaru then back at the meat and then to him again finally giving him a look that clearly said that he was insane. "E-even I," she stammered, "Won't consume raw meat willingly."

He blinked. "Raw meat...?" he looked back at the bowl of meat with a furrowed brow. "It's not—"His eyes flicked to the burner first and then to a happily eating Choji. His mind made the connection between the meat and why Choji had been chasing her earlier in the day. "Oi Amaya-san." He said. "Did you happen to try something from here before?"

Her face wiped blank as she tried to find the purpose of his question in his eyes. She still wasn't completely sure how this village was run, what the rules were, what punishments were set. Her eyes narrowed, and then widened again as she fought to keep an icy mask. Deciding to test the waters; Amaya spoke. "Hai. I snatched a piece off a plate near a window."

The abrupt confession startled Shikamaru. He arched an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly. He hadn't expected such a bold response- especially since it so blatantly exposed her act of felony. "I see," he smirked. "but that would mean you snatched one that was uncooked, yes?" he gestured to the steaming grill. "The server brings us the uncooked meat strips and we ourselves are in charge of searing the food to the degree we desire. You should try the piece I just cooked. I'm positive it's not raw."

'_He… he didn't even acknowledge the fact I stole?' _Amaya thought incredulously_. 'But the meat…' _her eyes traveled to the steaming strip on the plate. It did look cooked… With a slender hand she reached out and picked it up between two fingers. Ignoring the burning in her appendages she took the time to study it more thoroughly before carefully put it in her mouth. Sizzling flavor tingled on her tongue and scents of the herbs wafted over her senses.

Amaya's eyes widened.

It was… it was absolutely delicious!

"Good, ne?" Shikamaru asked smugly.

She nodded. "Hai! This is the best food I've ever been able to taste!" The food still fresh on her taste buds, the girl forgot about everything else. She wanted more. With a movement too fast to follow she reached for another piece that was still on the grill only to bite her lip hard and take her hand back even faster than the former gesture. Tears formed at the edges of her vision but she stubbornly pushed them back. How could she have been so stupid? Food like that wasn't hers to take! And she had no business crying over it when the pain was clearly deserved a punishment for being so greedy. Her gaze fell to the hand she was trying hard not to cradle against her chest and the reddening welts now residing on her fingertips.

A hand touched her shoulder. "Amaya are you ok—"

Violently, she flinched away. "I didn't mean to take more!" she hissed, curling in on herself while trying not to show weakness. They always exploited any weakness. "I-I didn't think. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

Shikamaru sat frozen, hand still outstretched and eyes wide. In the minutes he'd spent with her Amaya hadn't seemed the type to apologize easily. What… what had happened to this girl?

'_Why don't you know any of this,' Shikamaru asked. 'It's not like you've been living under a rock this whole time.'_

'_More like in a shack.'_

'_Huh?'_

The memory of that strange conversation cut into him. His eyes refocused on the trembling girl and he mechanically forced his hand down to his side. What had Amaya experienced through her life? He wasn't considered a genius for nothing; he was the best at seeing the small details, piecing together scenarios and creating profiles of his generation. Young kids his age didn't just cringe at nothing unless it was an action that had been negatively reinforced through time repeatedly. And then there was the food. She didn't know what a grill was. Didn't know that it was hot... and hadn't she said that it was the best food she'd ever tasted? From a Konoha villager perspective it would've seemed normal enough. Kids always tend to exaggerate- hell Choji and Naruto were prime examples of food fanatics and practically cried at the taste of something remotely good tasting. But Amaya didn't seem the type too. Was this… was this truly the best food she'd ever eaten?

_The 'Amaya' girl shook her head and waved it off. 'Aren't you glad you're free to see these all the time?'_

_Shikamaru stared at her for a moment then nodded. 'Yeah, I usually enjoy just watching them, I have my own spot on the roof for it and everything but I couldn't use it today because of remodeling or something. Are you not allowed to see them, or something?' the way she was looking at them made it seem like they were miracles._

_Amaya frowned. 'Well… I guess now I am. At least I hope so… it would be great if I could see them every day.'_

_Now she really was starting to creep him out. Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably on the grass looking anywhere but at the girl who seemed to be the first person in a long time to make him uneasy. 'You make it sound like you were enslaved.'_

'_Was that what happened? I don't really know…' She lifted her arms up and stared at them. Shikamaru blinked rapidly when he saw the metal shackles glinting at him from her wrists, mouth falling open slightly. She continued on, not noticing his reaction. 'It would explain these though. I really don't like them, there's always this pressure in my stomach as if someone's delivering an everlasting punch; not very painful but uncomfortable.'_

The genin sighed tiredly. '_Troublesome…'_

"Amaya-chan, do you like the food?" Kiba piped up from across the table as he ripped into a piece with his overly sharp canines.

At the words, Amaya jerked slightly and tilted her head towards him. "Y-yes." She conceded. Her blue eyes danced over to Shikamaru and she dug her fingers into Akamaru's fur tensely. "B-but I'm f-full now."

The dog yipped and Kiba arched a disbelieving brow. "Akamaru can smell that you're lying Amaya-chan. Why don't you keep eating? It will help you feel better."

"Iie Kiba." Amaya said, "I really am not hungry."

Shikamaru watched as the girl looked towards the frying meat and cringed inward, grasping at her stomach that was no doubt shriveled. His frown deepened.

How could a human be treated this way?

And she had been treated inhumanely- he was positive. The signs were all there: the skittishness, the emotional scarring, the glassy eyes, the aversion to touch. Something terrible had happened to this girl.

Carefully, Shikamaru picked up another two pieces of his frying meat and placed them on her plate. "Eat." She flinched at his voice, but then sat stiffly. Not bothering to move or even look at him or the food. "You're hungry, your stomach keeps growling. Eat."

Wide blue eyes shielding secrets flicked up to him. "I-I-Iie." She protested.

Shikamaru sighed and leaned closer, causing her to immediately lean back. Ignoring the blatant repulsion in her actions he reached around her to her untouched chopsticks. "Do you know how to use chopsticks?" he asked breaking them apart in a practiced movement.

Amaya eyed him suspiciously but didn't answer.

He breathed out heavily. "Troublesome." He muttered. Deliberately he wrapped his fingers around the wood, making sure she was seeing what he was doing, and then gave the two sticks a few clicks together. "See? Not that hard. Just place your fingers here, here, and here. Then put pressure between these two fingers and make a pinching motion." He gestured to what his hand was doing then tapped the space flanked by his pointer finger and thumb. "Make sure the bottom chopstick rests against this area- not too tightly or you won't be able to maneuver them- and then you're good to go." He dropped them from position and held them out to her. "You try now."

Delicately she took the pointed sticks and, with a slight hesitation in which she looked up at him fearfully, she rolled them together and then spread her fingers out in a perfect imitation of what he'd just done. Amaya held the position and waited for ascent.

"Good." Shikamaru nodded. He picked up his own set and gently pinched a grilled meat between the utensils before bringing it to his mouth and eating it.

Amaya bit her lip and copied his movements so the sticks brought the food to her lips. Closing her eyes against the sight, she whimpered softly and then briskly shoved it into her mouth. Chewed. Tasted. Again the world spun away from her as she marveled at how good tasting food could be. _'If they had given me food like this in the village I wouldn't have tried to escape so much…'_

Without pause, she then reached for more steaming pieces on the grill with her chopsticks and chewed them while observing the way the others turned the raw strips to make it cook.

'Place it on the 'grill' then wait till it starts sizzling then turn it.' She picked up a raw piece of her own and did as she'd seen. After a moment she turned it and gave a small smile when she found the former bottom side cooked.

Shikamaru chuckled.

Troublesome.

* * *

><p><strong>~*Amaya's Pv*~<strong>

"SHE'S A SPY I TELL YOU!"

"SHUT UP BAKA! FOR THE LAST TIME: AMAYA. IS. NOT. A. SPY!"

"I SAW HER ON THE ROOFS, BELIEVE IT!"

"AND YOU YOURSELF WERE ON THE ROOF! DOES THAT MAKE YOU A SPY?"

"NO! I'M FROM THIS VILLAGE- I'M ALLOWED ON THE ROOFS!"

"SHE'S FROM THIS VILLAGE NOW TOO BAKA!"

Amaya watched in interest as the loud blonde haired boy fought with Kiba, drawing the attention of several people who were still strolling the streets in the dark.

'_Is this a habitual thing?'_ she wondered. Her head tilted to the side as she continued to observe the boys actions and posture towards each other. It seemed violent to her but at the same time… it wasn't the same reading she got off of the people she faced in the Challenges. It was… peculiar.

"I HAVEN'T HEARD THAT! ALL I HAVE IS YOU YIPPING NONSENSE AT ME- DOG BREATH!" the boy referred to as Naruto shouted. "IF SHE—" he paused to jab a finger in her direction. "—WAS PART OF OUR VILLAGE I WOULD TOTALLY KNOW- BELIEVE IT!" he turned and started marching off in a random direction.

Kiba sweat dropped and his facial expression looked torn between disgust and exasperation. His gaze went to his dog that had stopped barking as well. They both looked back at Naruto. "I believe that you're the village idiot." He muttered out the side of his mouth.

Naruto whirled around. "WHAT DID YOU SAY DOG BREATH?"

At the insult Kiba bristled and balled up his fists. "YOU'RE A NINJA YOU SHOULD'VE HEARD!"

"WHAT? SORRY- I DON'T SPEAK MUTT!" Naruto sniggered.

Veins throbbed on Kiba's forehead. "ARE YOU INSULTING MY CLAN?"

"ONLY IF THEY'RE ALL AS STUPID AS YOU, NE!" Naruto replied, sticking his tongue out and pulling down one of his eyelids.

Akamaru let out a savage yip and Kiba nodded angrily. "Yeah, you're right boy. We can't have people going around badmouthing our clan- even if it is a failure ninja baka! Let's get 'im!"

Curiously, Amaya watched as the three raced at each other. No one was looking worried at the violent confliction about to occur. Were they really as vicious a village as she had first thought? A shiver of unease went through her and she took a step back slightly, eyes darting to the tree canopy peeking over the darkened roof tops. Maybe she'd be better off fleeing while she could or face more pain? Her eyes went to the shackles still clasped to her wrists. But she wouldn't be able to defend herself if she left with her powers bound. Her eyes went to the ground again.

'_But maybe it's better if they're bound,_' a small voice whispered in her head, _'They're always hurting people. Always getting me in trouble. I don't want to see anymore faces filled with that ugly emotion. That __**Hate**__.'_

There was a loud 'pop' and suddenly Kakashi was between them, one hand on Naruto's head while the other held his ever present book. "Ne ne, what do you two think you're doing fight in the streets at this time of night?" he asked uninterestedly. "Waking up the entire village at this time of night isn't something the Hokage will be pleased about."

Kiba growled but picked up Akamaru and turned away. "Gomen Kakashi-san."

"HEY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING KAKASHI-SENSEI? I WAS ABOUT TO BEAT DOG BREATH'S FACE IN!" Naruto exclaimed, flailing around his arms in an attempt to get at the older ninja.

Kakashi sighed and glanced at Naruto. "Naruto…"

"I CAN TAKE HIM!" Naruto shouted. "WIPING THE FLOOR WITH THAT MUTT WILL BE EASY, BELIEVE IT!"

No one seemed to notice Ino walking briskly over to them except Amaya. With a swift fist Ino hit him over the head.

"ITAI!" Naruto screeched, turning on Ino. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"

He was answered with a foot coming down on his head, pinning him to the dirt. "Jeeze I almost feel bad for Forehead-Girl after dealing with you for dinner. I'm already to the point of insanity and she has to deal with you every day." Her eyes suddenly turned to hearts. "Ooh poor Sasuke-kun! Putting up with that ugly billboard-brow and a color senseless baka! If it was anyone else other than him the person would've gone insane but my Sasuke-kun is stronger than the actions of the likes of You people!"

From beneath her foot Naruto struggled. "HEY DON'T INSULT SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Naruto…"

Deciding to disregard the ensuing conversation, Amaya directed her attention towards the sky. Her breath caught.

'_Stars...'_

The thousands of twinkling lights captivated Amaya. Never before had she seen something so beautiful. They varied in size; they made up swirling patterns that raced and danced across the sky. And then there was the ivory disk in the center of all the magnificence. Glowing with all the mysterious splendor of the world that had been caught beneath its face and reflected out for all to see; it was a wonder that she hadn't seen the glow before under the cracks and missing floorboards the Hut had harbored.

Seven years.

Seven Years.

In that time period she'd never seen such glamour and before that her memories were just blurs of color and soft voices eroded with hatred and screaming.

'_Has it always looked this way or was it at one point completely dark?'_ she wondered vaguely. '_Who hung them there? There's so many…'_

An elbow nudged her side, and she hissed in alarm pulling viciously away from her musings on instinct. Her wide eyes simmering with bruised defiance caught on a calm pair of brown. Amaya's gaze traced the relaxed planes of the face next to her outward until recognition hit. Shikamaru.

"They're pretty, don't you think?" he asked casually, hands dug deep into pockets.

"Hai." She nodded. A few seconds of silence stretched between them.

"Want to see even more of them?" He asked suddenly. His gaze cut to her from the corner of his eye, even as he kept his face averted to the sky. "You don't have to come if you don't want- it's actually really troublesome to get there but I like to think it's worth it at times—" the words tumbling from his mouth stopped.

Shyly, Amaya looked up at him. "Mo-more of them?" she asked as her fingers twisted tightly together. He shook his head in affirmation and she sent him a small, wistful smile. _'More stars…' _she looked out at them again and bit her lip. They would be even more beautiful with more… but how could there possibly be more? Amaya pondered it for a few seconds; turned briskly to Shikamaru with a fluid motion. "Please take me there, if you don't mind."

He smirked. "This way." Shikamaru spun on his heal and slouched away into the shadows of a nearby building.

Excitement pouring through her veins, Amaya went to follow ."Hai-" she said. Her foot crossed through the dark veil draped over the alley and she paused slightly.

'_Monster! Serves you right for thinking you could escape! Who would take you in anyways? Filth!' _

A phantom boot from her memories struck her hard in the gut and she fought not to double over in pain. She'd only been four years of age. Too young to realize that freedom was but a fleeting wisp of ungraspable smog that clung to the mind with malice. Too naïve to understand why they were kicking her. All too willing to shed salty tears that fed the hatred and violence directed at her.

She had been tricked and severely punished.

Was this the same?

The shadows shifted and Shikamaru stood before her with an arched eyebrow. "You coming?"

Her blue eyes streamed with ribbons of silver and she looked at him for a few moments with questions running through her mind.

_Is it all a cruel trick?_

_Will you be the same?_

_Will you laugh at my pain?_

_Will this village turn on me too?_

_Will you hurt me?_

Amaya took a deep, struggling breath and closed her eyes. She'd never been able to make choices in her life before this-things were laid out in code for her to follow. Yet now that she had the power to choose…she was afraid. Afraid that she'd make the wrong option. Afraid she'd have to go back to that dark place of suffering. Her fists clenched at her sides. She couldn't stand living like this, always on the edge, not knowing if she were safe or not. She'd lived like that for the majority of her existence and couldn't- wouldn't – stand to deal with it again.

'_Then you have make a choice.'_ A voice whispered.

Chance or chance?

Risk or risk?

'_Safety…'_

Her eyes reopened.

"Hai," she said. Her fingers trembled and she stilled them with pure determination. She straightened her back and looked him in the eyes. "Hai Shikamaru-san, I'm coming."

* * *

><p>Short i know... sorry but i'm working on the next chapter and promise to explain more of the whole 'living in the village scenario'<p>

Review please!


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay Sorry but this A/N is going to be EXTREMELY brief because I have like two minutes left for internet before going home -.-**

**No time for dedication/ personal responses / I'll try to do them next chapter, kay?**

**THANKS READERS AND I LOVE YOU ALL COMMENTERS 3 3**

**okay carrying on... this is disappointingly a pretty much filler chapter- sorry but this had to be done. Next upload hopefully Monday... ummm... she gets to go to her first day of the academy next chp YAY. Don't think things will get easier fast for Amaya because i'm sadistic and i want to draw her suffering out- nahhh i luv my creations... aheh..**

**READ ON**

**!**

* * *

><p>The sight was amazing; it stole Amaya's breath as soon as she stepped foot on the flat surface of the roof. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp that, out of habit, she kept sound from filling. Thousands upon thousands of little light speckles dotted the sky like a spider web of gems had been cast over the world itself. Her hands to itch to reach out and snatch them up to see if they felt cool like the air or hot like a flame within her palm but she had felt the itch before-in the many times she'd yearned for freedom of the wretched shack- and knew that it was better not to try to reach and, instead, sat on her hands as she settled besides the black haired boy whom had brought her to this place.<p>

"It's a sight, ne?" Shikamaru muttered, reclining onto his back with his hands tucked behind his head.

Amaya jolted slightly at the sudden words but then relaxed again. Her eyes darted to the gleaming pool of swirls above her. "Hai." She responded shortly.

At her one-worded answer Shikamaru sweat dropped slightly. He'd seen the look in her eyes. The one that said without words that it was the most wonderful sight she had ever seen, and from his observation skills he had learned that most people would've burst into a stuttering praise or poetic words for the sight before them, but Amaya… well she _was_ a different one after all. "Troublesome girl." He grunted.

Large blue eyes looked at him curiously. "Why do you say that?"

Shikamaru twitched at the reminder that though Amaya looked like an oblivious kid she wasn't- most likely due to things happening in her past. Even some genin might've missed what he'd said. _'No'_ he thought contemplatively, _'some of the genin __**would've**__ missed that- namely Naruto and perhaps Ino and Choji.'_ He blew out a breath in exasperation. Kami help Konoha if this new generation of oblivious ninja carried on.

"No reason, Amaya-san. No reason at all."

Amaya narrowed her eyes slightly as if considering pressuring him but her eyes gravitated towards the sky again and her attention was stolen away into the blue-black of the night.

Minutes passed, maybe an hour or so, as they occupied the roof in complete silence; content to just watch the heavens secrets as they sluggishly shifted. It was then that they soft sound of jumping footsteps and the subtle swish of a cloak in the wind caught Shikamaru's attention. Amaya finally heard it when the being made its appearance on the roof; so enraptured by the sight that her defense mechanisms were somewhat dulled.

"Otou-san." Shikamaru acknowledged lazily without lifting his head.

"Shikamaru." The man replied.

Amaya looked up to survey the man before her, hands slipping out from under her and tensing in fists as her mind tried to categorize this newcomer as friend or foe. He had hair in the same style and color as Shikamaru with a large scar marring his face and a torn cloak upon his muscled frame. His slouched position was a replica of Shikamaru's and if anything the cunning glean that she'd witnessed within the boys eyes next to her was magnified in this mans. Her mind labeled his him as a non-threat for now and she eased her shoulders a little, eyes warily locked on him still.

"You must be Amaya-san," The man assumed scanning her appearance. He inclined his head. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nara Shikaku- Shikamaru's father." Amaya stayed silent so he continued, eyes turning on the boy lazing on his back. "Shika, your mother is harping for you to get back for dinner."

"But we just had Barbeque." Shikamaru pointed out, eyes not opening.

Shikakur arched an eyebrow. "And when has that ever mattered to your mother?"

Shikamaru sighed and sat up. "Never."

The man smirked slightly then looked back over at Amaya. "Oh, and you're coming back to the house with us."

"Why's she coming with us?" Shikamaru asked halfheartedly, standing up and walking over to follow his father.

Shikaku arched an eyebrow. "To stay with us, Shikamaru." He said. "I would've thought you would've figured that out on your own.

"Too troublesome." Shikamaru grunted.

"Yokino, we're back, and someone else is with us too." Shikaku called out as he closed the door behind the group as they shuffled in. Amaya, kept her arms pressed to her sides and darted her gaze every which way, absorbing as much as she could from her surroundings. Walls, furniture, pictures… Her eyes locked on the walls. It reminded her of a nicer version of 'the shack'; shivers skittered up her back.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMEONE ELSE IS WITH YOU?" A female voice shouted from the other room.

Amaya flinched and slid back to a corner of the room.

"Yokino, I don't think that—"

"Shut it Nara!" A woman with black/brown hair tossed into a messy ponytail came stomping out from the kitchen, brown eyes blazing. "I have to deal with your lazy-ness all day and then you bring a friend home too? I swear, if it's Ichigo again I'm going to—" Her words stopped flowing as she caught sight of the nervous looking Amaya looking up at her with wide blue eyes now tinged with silver. The females' eyes squinted up into a smile and she clasped her hands together. "Aww, what a sweet little thing you are!" She cooed. "Look at that innocent face! Those eyes are simply darling!"

Amaya flattened herself against the wall as the woman shuffled closer; unsure what to make of this person with moods that changed faster than a blink of an eye.

Shikamaru sighed. "Mom, she's not used to people—"

The woman abruptly round on him, eyes flashing dangerously. Amaya cringed at the change and quickly maneuvered so Shikakus' form was in front of her own. "You know her Nara Shikamaru?" She growled. Shikamaru groaned, realizing that it would've been better to not say anything. "And you didn't tell me? What's her name? Where's she from? Introduce her you lazy bum!" His mother demanded, bashing him a few times on the top of the head.

"Itai!" The boy exclaimed, rubbing at his head with one hand while trying to fend his parent off with the other. "Gomen! Gomen! I didn't realize she was coming over tonight until dad showed up and I only met her a few hours ago!"

She let him go and then turned on the older man. "You knew about this and you didn't tell me?"

Shikaku sighed and scratched his scarred cheek. "Well, I guess you could say that…"

"Shikaku…" The woman growled threateningly.

He sighed. "Fine… I'll talk to you in the kitchen, okay?" He glanced at Shikamaru and nodded to Amaya. "Why don't you take her to see your room, Shika? I'll call you back in ten minutes."

"What are you doing Shik—"

The man put a hand over her mouth and sighed. "Come on Yokino, we have something to discuss in the kitchen."

"Fine then. I guess I'll show you my room, troublesome parents." Shikamaru huffed. He gestured with a tilt of his head for Amaya to follow him and slouched down the hallway. With a last glance at the adults Amaya turned and trailed after.

When the husband and wife got to the kitchen Shikaku hesitantly removed his hand and Yokino jumped from his embrace and spun to cut him with a burning glare. "How dare you shuffle me in here with brute force!" she snarled. "I might have given up shinobi work years ago but that doesn't mean I have any qualms against taking a kunai to you!"

Shikaku sweat dropped. Yes, his wife had proven that yet again she had not changed from when they had first met. He still had the jagged scar from her kunai in his bicep. "Yokino," He started, trying to placate the situation.

"Don't you 'Yokino' me!" she snapped. "I'm not some doll you can just coo to and have it calm down. You know the deal we made when we got married. No. Keeping. Secrets." Her fingers twitched and he realized that she was probably contemplating going for the kitchen knives in the drawer. That would be a bit of a problem if he wanted to tell her anything.

He sighed and scratched the top of his head. "Okay, how about I just tell you then? Lord Hokage called a meeting tonight requesting a young girl found abused in a village by Hatake Kakashi's team to be taken in by one of the shinobi families of the leaf. No one else was stepping in and I knew it was going to be too troublesome to wait hours for the Clans' to decide anything so I stepped in and volunteered. He accepted and so Amaya will be staying here for a trial run month."

A moment of silence ensued as Yokino absorbed the information. Then fire leapt into her eyes and she launched herself forward.

"YOU BASTARD!" she shrieked. Her fists hammered down at him and he had no time to move out of the way as she assaulted him. "YOU. DIRTY. ROTTEN. BASTARD!" She screamed between hits. Out of all of the scenarios Shikaku had accumulated in his mind this sure had not been one he'd calculated. Sure Yokino could be a little volatile but getting angry for helping a kid… His thoughts were disturbed as she sent another fist at his chest. "What do you mean, 'trial period'? We don't need a trial period! She's staying and that's final!"

When he registered what she was saying he grabbed her fists and straightened slightly. "Uh-what?"

"SHE'S STAYING!" she snarled. Her eyes flashed and she tore away from his grip to go stalk over and take up a stirring spoon at one of the steaming pots. She spoke no more but her lips were pressed into thin lines and her tense posture radiated anger.

Still blind sighted by her swift change in reaction, Shikaku stared after his wife for a second before clearing his throat and scratching at his scarred cheek. "Ahem, Yokino…" the stiffening of her figure was the only indication of her hearing him. He frowned and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms. "Yokino, it was at the Hokage's request to take a trial period. It is quite logical if you think about it. If Amaya is found to be uncomfortable here it would be better that she is able to move on to another family to be placed cleanly. Don't you agree?"

Abruptly Yokino ceased stirring and her grip tightened slightly in a measurement only identifiable by those of ninja classification. "Shikaku…" Her grip tightened even more and she dropped her head so her face was hidden some by the strands of hair that had escaped their bindings. "It's not that I… it's not that I don't see the logic…" she blew out sigh and then her head shot up and she spoke with more conviction. "But how can you ask that of a child? To be allowed a place to stay but not a home?"

"Stop it,Yokino." Shikaku said, his voice finally taking on a rougher tone. He stepped forward and lifted her chin with a strong finger. "This girl is different. She's never known a home. She's never known kindness. This trial period is for her own emotions as much as her physical well-being. Amaya doesn't know how to act, as far as I've been told, with family or friends. Her only interactions with other human beings besides our own villagers that we know of have been negative and most likely mentally scarring." He tilted his head to the side. "Don't you think that she is warranted at least some sort of time to adapt?"

"So, this is your room?" Amaya asked softly. Her eyes, now reverting slowly back to their regular blue state skimmed over the area, absorbing the sensory details like she'd never see it again and storing it in her memory.

What she recognized as a bed from the hospital was pushed horizontally against the wall, a desk was below the closed window with a matching chair pushed underneath it, another door that had been left open show cased clothing similar to what Shikamaru was wearing along with various weapons, a few pictures sat on a nightstand and a woven rug covered the majority of empty space on the floor. It was so unique compared to what she had seen- though perhaps in retrospect what she'd seen in her life hadn't been a lot- and the corners of her lips curled slightly, though unnoticeably to even the most attentive of shinobi.

Shikamaru glanced around awkwardly and leaned against the door frame. "Yeah, I guess." He said dully.

Blue eyes flicked to him for a second before skittering away. They locked on the glinting metal in the other mini-room.

"H-hey, what are you—?" Before Shikamaru could react Amaya was already on the other end of the room, hands holding a single kunai up to her critical gaze.

"Identical on both sides, razor edge, loop for… a-a …" Amaya frowned at the loop. A rope might've fit but not easily. So what was it for?

"For a wire." Shikamaru supplied.

Amaya looked back at him in surprise, to find him lazy on his bed. "A wire?"

He glanced up and propped his head on one hand. "Yeah, as shinobi we use the kunai to fight but we also might use them for a trap or something simpler like just being able to retrieve them so a loop for wire is actually really helpful."

Her eyes lit up slightly and she quickly turned and held up a needle. "And this?"

"Senbon, they're used as weapons too. Usually as hidden weapons or tools sometimes. Some ninja specialize with their use like the Hunter-Nin who attack with pressure points and knowledge of the body. Other times Senbon are used to poison opponents. You simply soak them in poison, similar to those generic ones," he gestured to a few canisters on the table. "and use them."

"A-and this?" Amaya held up an orb like object.

"Smoke bomb."

"Shikamaru, dinner!"

"Huh?" Shikamaru turned to look at the door. "Oh, it's been ten minutes already? Better get going or Okaa-san will get mad…" He stood with a soft groan and stretched, putting his arms behind his head. "Ne?" He glanced over his shoulder. "You should come too y'know."

Amaya nearly dropped the smoke bomb before hastily placing it back where it had been before she had touched it. "H-hai." She got to her feet and quickly followed after him.

"We're here." The genin announced tiredly.

His father looked up from his position at the head of the table. "Oh, that's good. Thank you for allowing your mother and I time to talk, Shika."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru huffed, slumping down in the seat next to him. "ITAI!"

Yokino lifted up the ladle she had just hit him with and huffed. "Show respect to your father Shikamaru."

He sighed. "Gomen. It wasn't a problem father."

Shikaku smirked and then looked to Amaya who was hesitantly sitting down across from Shikamaru where he had indicated. "Ah, our guest. I hope you have been enjoying your time here."

Amaya froze, and then looked down at her lap. "Uh… yes."

"That's good!" Yokino chimed, sending her a big smile. She set a bowl of soup down in front of her and sat down herself.

"Yeah, seems like she has a thing for weapons." Shikamaru put in as he picked up his chopticks. He muttered 'itidakumasu' then dipped them in to fish for noodles. "I was just explaining Senbon and Kunai to her before you called."

Shikaku arched an eyebrow. "Really?" He looked at Amaya. "Is it because you saw KAkashi with them, or…?"

"I-I like to learn, and it seems interesting… Sasaki showed me some other ninja things on the way to your village."

"May I ask what?"

"Shikaku!" Yokino protested.

"I-it's fine." Amaya scooted back a bit. **"."**

The sound of chopsticks hitting the table top broke the following silence.

"What the…?" Shikamaru breathed.

Shikaku blinked rapidly and sat back. "That was… Amaya-san, when exactly did Sasaki show you those hand signs?" he questioned slowly.

"Oh!" A small smile appeared on her face. "He showed me on the way to the village. I practiced for a few hours and showed them to the ninja at the gates."

"You are saying," Shikamaru prompted. "That you got the handsigns not only copied perfectly in a matter of hours but also you are able to execute them that fast in the same amount of time?"

Amaya tilted her head to the side slightly. "I-I suppose."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

"Shikamaru!" Yokino protested.

"No, he's right." Shikaku interrupted. "Kids might be hostile at the academy to her for just being from another village. With her being this talented her popularity will either increase severely or decrease drastically. Most likely she will be shunned."

Shunned… that was a word Amaya knew. Her eyes glazed slight but she straightened slightly. "The academy is where I am supposed to learn how to be a ninja, yes?"

"Hai." Shikaku answered.

"Well then it won't be a problem. There isn't anything they can do to me that hasn't already been done anyways."

The two Nara males shared a look. Whatever had happened to her had done some lasting damage. They'd have to observe a while longer to discover how much and if they could repair it.

"W-why don't we dig in, huh?" Yokino suggested smiling sharply. "I made enough for everyone and I have some mochi for dessert." When Shikaku opened his mouth to say something she shot him a glare. "That goes for you too." He compliantly backed off and returned to eating, watching Amaya out of the corner of his eye. Yokino smiled at the young girl. "Are you enjoying dinner? I'm not sure what you're used too but if you have any preference I could make it tomorrow."

Blue eyes rose up to meet her gaze. "I wouldn't know what to ask for. I've only eaten rice porridge, bread, barbeque and this before."

Yokino seemed to be at a loss as to what to say. "O-oh." A moment of silence passed before she glibly re-donned her smile and promptly placed more food on Amaya's plate. "Well then I guess we'll have to make sure we introduce you to more of a variety then!"

After they ate Yokino cleaned up, having Amaya assist her, and Shikamaru and Shikaku set up a sort of board game between them.

"Yokino," Amaya said, pausing in her newly learned scrubbing of a plate. "What are Shikaku and Shikamaru doing?"

"Huh?" Yokino looked up from where she was crouched putting a pan away and brushed at her bangs. Then she blinked and smiled. "Oh they're probably playing a game of Shogi. They play it every chance they get but it's an unspoken ritual that they play every night after dinner unless they're away on a mission."

"Sh-shogi?" Amaya repeated, feeling out the word like a small child might.

"Hai. You can go watch them after you finish those dishes if you want. Don't get upset if you don't understand it, I myself could never grasp the game, but your welcome to give it a try."

"Really?" The young girl asked hopefully.

Yokino smiled softly at the insecurity of her tone. "Of course."

Amaya hurriedly turned around and dunked her arms back into the soapy water to begin the dish washing with new vigor, her eyes darting up and back to the two playing at times before she'd return her gaze to the dishes and scrub with a new burst of speed. To show for her enthusiasm she finished in under ten minutes and was seated next to the board watching them with avid attention as soon as the last plate was stored.

"Do you want us to explain?" Shikamaru drawled softly, flipping one piece over lazily as his father went to move.

The girl shook her head. "No." Starting to get used to her short responses Shikamaru shrugged and nudged a wooden bit into the next square. Shikaku raised an eyebrow and looked from her to him but kept quiet.

They continued like that for a while, each Nara male taking turns to move a piece and Amaya watching with an eerie almost unblinking stare. Suddenly the game paused. Shikamarus' eyes darted over the board before he sighed and closed them.

"Troublesome."

"And I believe that's game." Shikaku said leaning back slightly. "Getting better Shikamaru." He praised.

Shikamaru grunted. "Better, but not closer to beating you."

His father chuckled. "You keep forgetting the main piece." He taunted lightly.

"All this and that about 'the main piece'," Shikamaru complained. "But you never get around to telling me what it is."

"You'll find out in time."

"And you always say that too." Shikamaru huffed under his breath. Then his gaze flicked to Amaya who was still inspecting the board calculatingly even though they'd ceased playing. "C'mon Amaya, I'll tell you more about my equipment and then I'll show you the gu-" his eyes flicked to his father. "Your new room." She nodded and stood up. "Night Okaa-san." He called waving over his shoulder as he lead her away.

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><p><strong>Oh god it's such a filler chapter! I'm sorry!<strong>

**Gonna work on next chapter fast... sorry no time to go into details and sneak peaks :(**

**Oh! holding a vote- should Iruka-sensei & Amaya get along? Not get along? Have a luv hate relationship like Iruka and Naruto? Try to think outside the box and not too cliche because if so i most likely won't use it unless i twist your idea a bit... pm me or Review to vote!**

**REVIEW FAVORITE**

**Got to go SAYONARA!**


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys! sorry it's taken me so long to update and you will all be very frustrated to note that this chapter has been sitting on my laptop for some while ehehheh -.-''

thank you for all of your comments and I hope you don't give up on this story. Hope this chapter is long enough!

Disclaimer: I only own what my mind has fabricated

Read

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><p>Shikaku was up early the next morning leaning against the kitchen hallway, as the Hokage had called him to his office to have a word with him earlier; predictably the conversation revolved around the small enigma of a child residing at his house. He grunted and took a sip of water from the glass in his hand as his eyes went to Shikamaru's bedroom door. The discussion with the village leader replayed itself in his mind.<p>

"_You wished to see me, Lord Hokage?"_

"_Correct, Shikaku-san. I wanted to let you know that Amaya's studies at the academy will vary from the normal instruction." The man behind the large desk said pleasantly, moving an ink brush over the paper in front of him with a nonchalant yet purposeful air._

_The jounin stilled slightly. His head tilted to the side. "In what ways, sir?" He watched as the man set the brush down._

"_Amaya-san is a bit of a special case Nara-san." The Hokage informed him in a measured tone. He folded his hands together, reclining back in his chair and looked pensively out of the window. "She is too old to fully go through the Academy yet too young to be a genin. Usually if such a child has to be integrated into ninja society they would be years behind the other students and have to go through years of private training to balance it out. However, it seems that the girl is almost in shinobi shape besides the lack of nutrition and has a certain aptitude towards the ninja arts. If she were to have a narrower spectrum of education to just the basic building blocks of ninja and not the history I think it would serve our purpose better. So I've told Iruka-san to be lenient on her for the more academic part of shinobi and also practice with her after class hours to improve her jutsu and get her up to speed with the graduating class of genin." The man lifted a wrinkled hand and scratched his head. "If things go well she will be a genin within a few months."_

"_I…understand Sir." Shikaku nodded._

_When he went to stand the old man held up a hand. "But… she will have to continue academic studies both in her free time at the academy and while she's a genin." He warned the younger man. "Also, it would be best if she's kept on a highly nutritional diet- her growth's been stunted enough and she'll need all the help she can get to become a strong konoichi."_

"_Of course."_

"_Good." The Hokage nodded then waved him away. "You are dismissed Nara-san. Go back to your family."_

"Amaya is turning out to be quite the peculiar one." Shikaku muttered contemplatively. He set the glass down and straightened. Well, Amaya needed to get to school and Shikamaru needed to get up anyways- he smirked at that. His son had taken lazy to a new level despite his brain being the most active in Konoha. He shook his head and walked quietly over to the door. His knuckles rapped lightly on the wood frame before he pulled it open. "Shika—" He blinked at what he could see. Shikamaru and Amaya were sprawled out on either side of an old playing board asleep. Apparently the girl hadn't quite made it to the guest bedroom last night after all. A movement caught his eye and he found a stoic girl staring up at him, now on the other side of the room. She wasn't going to have trouble keeping up in class with physical trials that was for sure.

"Ohayo, Amaya. I came in to get both of you up for your days—how did you rest?"

The girl stood staring for a few moments before simply nodding.

Shikaku sweat dropped. 'And here I had hoped she would've kept up the liveliness from yesterday.' He cleared his throat and motioned to Shikamaru. "Mind if I get him up?" Another stare. He sighed imperceptibly and turned to his still sleeping son. Nudged him with a boot. "Shikamaru get up. Shikamaru I know your awake already." No reply. "Don't make me get your mother in here."

The genin shot up with more energy than most would ever witness in him. "Iie! I'm up, I'm up, no need to get up Okaa-san." He yawned and scratched his head then paused. "Oh, ohayo Amaya." He got the same nod as his father had. "Well, I had better get dressed seeing as I'm up." Shikamaru shot a pointed look at his father who chuckled and waved Amaya over.

"Come on, we'll go get you some breakfast while we wait for Shika to get a move on."

Shikamaru grumbled a "Troublesome" as they walked out, closing the door behind them.

The man turned his attention to the girl at his side and proceeded to lead the way to the kitchen. "So, I see Shikamaru taught you shogi last night."

Blue eyes pierced him and she slowly shook her head. "We played, I figured it out mostly by watching you two play." She murmered. He raised an eyebrow and flashed back to his memory of the game board in Shikamarus' room. If he had seen correctly she had been about to win…

"It is a very complicated game." He commented. "Most either cannot grasp the concept or do not want to take the time to try- even fewer that are children."

Amaya shook her head lightly. "Well, I am neither so it can be assumed that the rule doesn't apply to me."

Shikaku looked at her, taken off guard. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.

She turned her head fully to him and the once blue eyes shone an eerie silver. "I am Yasha." The tone in which she said the words made the hairs on the back of his neck stand and his whole form tensed. That wasn't something a child should say, and not with such terrible conviction or certainty. He had known when he had made the decision to take her in that she was damaged but… could it be that she was broken?

"Oi Amaya, ready to go? I'll drop you at the academy before I go to meet my team at the training grounds." Shikamaru called, his voice breaking through the spell of silence that had cocooned the two for a few moments.

She blinked and her eyes were once again blue. "Hai, Shikamaru-san." Without another word or glance to Shikaku she headed out of the room to the front door where Shikamaru waited with an unnaturally soundless grace. Shikaku could hear them talking, or at least Shikamaru, as they walked out of the house heading for towards the center of the village. His hand came up and he stroked the ragged scar on his cheek.

"This may be more difficult than I first thought." He admitted aloud.

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><p><strong>~*Amaya*~<strong>

They walked along sedately through the streets of Konoha, her slightly smaller stride giving her no grief as Shikamaru didn't go faster than a lazy stroll. Amaya didn't really know what to think about this place. It was…nice, she supposed. No one shouted at her. No one came up asking for a fight. And this place seemed somehow happier than her village. Her wide blue eyes took in the hustle and bustle of the morning where store owners called cheerfully to others across the way and little toddlers tottered after strays. It was really unimaginably exotic to her gaze. She'd never witnessed something like this before. Well, she had yesterday but those were brief glimpses amidst the chaos of being chased.

"Careful, or they'll think you're going to attack them or something." Shikamaru joked. She looked up at him blankly and he sighed. "Never mind. It was just a joke- not very funny I guess, eh?"

"J-joke?" she asked hesitantly. It was a new word, something that seemed to be plentiful in this village. She had often listened in on conversations in her village from the walls of the shack to learn words and such but it seemed she wasn't as educated as she had believed. "What is 'Joke'?"

"Uh…" Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, frowning. "Well, I've never really thought about what it actually is. It's kind of hard to explain. Let's see…" he looked to the sky contemplatively, still walking. "It's something that's supposed to be funny. You know, make someone laugh." She kept looking blankly at him and he sighed again. "Okay, I'm not very good at explaining this. It's more something you have to learn by experiencing anyways. You'll get it eventually. Most kids at the Academy joke around all the time." He sweat dropped, and under his breath added, "Like Naruto…"

An image of the orange clothed male sprung to mind and Amaya frowned, a slight curl of lips. She didn't care for the energetic blonde that jumped to conclusions too fast. She didn't care for him at all.

"We're here."

The statement took her by surprise as she blinked and looked up at the building with a sign over it. She quickly averted her eyes from the symbols and shifted. "Here?" she gazed at Shikamaru with a minute questioning wrinkle in her brow.

He nodded. "Yeah, just head in through the doors to the classroom. I'd take you in but…"

"NARA! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET US HOURS AGO!" A voice suddenly screamed from the direction to their left. They both looked that way and stared before Shikamaru sighed.

"That."

Slowly, Amaya nodded. She recognized it as the blonde girls' voice that she'd seen yesterday at the 'Barbeque' place and wasn't thrilled for another meeting. So she turned and head for the doors.

"I'll see you after you get out!" Shikamaru called. His words weren't returned or even acknowledged as she continued in and slipped through the doors.

"PAY ATTENTION! I'M NOT GOING TO REPEAT THIS AGAIN!" The loud voice echoing out accompanied by the sound of laughter and childish taunts nearly made Amaya go back the way she had come. Her blue eyes swirled with a bit of a silver tint as she swallowed hard looking uncertainly at the sliding door in front of her. This was new…she wasn't used to coming into contact with…children. She reached out as if to touch the door but then curled her fingers into her palm before they could reach the wood. And the voice from before. Her eyes closed. There had been so many raised voices like that in her past.

'I took the chance yesterday.' She thought suddenly. 'I have to keep it going today.'

Before she could second guess her decision she pressed her hand to the door and slid it open. Several sets of eyes focused on her small form standing in the threshold, one belonging to the adult standing in the front of the room with a scar across his nose wearing a green ninja vest and what she had observed as the standard pants and sandals of Leaf Shinobi.

Seconds of silence dragged on and she stared impassively at the all. Finally the elder shinobi cleared his throat.

"Hello, are you here for something?"

Amaya nodded and stepped into the room more fully, the door sliding closed after her. She didn't like the feeling of enclosure but as there were no weapons visible and the village had been friendly towards her so far—for the most part—she managed to convince herself that it was okay. "My name is Amaya."

He looked startled for a moment, scratching the back of his head and tilting his head to the side. "Uh…sorry, yes the Hokage told me you were coming. It's just that after class had been started for ten minutes I just assumed…and I thought you would be…older. Aheh." When she just stared at him he cleared his throat again. "Well then, would you like to come introduce yourself to the class." He motioned her forward and she obligingly crossed to where he was but refused to give him her back.

"Amaya." She stated tonelessly to the class. The kids looked blankly at her.

"Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself, Amaya?" the ninja prompted.

She stiffened and sent a silvery glance back at him. "I like to learn."

The class stayed silent until a boy with spikes of blue hair springing up all over his head stood up with a barking laugh. "You like to _learn_?" he asked incredulously. "So let me get this straight, you don't have a last name, and you like to learn. _You're_ supposed to be the advanced student? How old are you anyways? Like seven?" At his cutting words the entire room burst into peals of laughter minus Amaya and the teacher besides her.

Ignoring his taunts like she would the villagers Amaya matter-oh-factly answered his question. "I am ten years old." The boy opened his mouth to say more but the Ninja cut in.

"You may call me Iruka-Sensei I am the teacher of this class. Would you like to choose your seat?" She merely stared blankly at him. He sighed. "Okay then... how about you sit next to Riku? Riku raise your hand please."

At his words a brown haired boy muttered something out the side of his mouth before tiredly putting his arm in the air. "Over here, Amaya-san." She eyed him for a moment before heading over to his desk bar which was near the top. Her foot steps were mere swishes of air across the steps. When she stood next to him he motioned briskly to the chair next to him. "This is yours."

She dropped into the seat quietly and turned to listen as Iruka-sensei began speaking again.

"As I was saying, this is an important factor of being a shinobi. Combat is the Only way to survive but there are several things you must learn and use _together_. I'm going to teach you about the basic categories today and hopefully you will catch on to the finer nuances of them later on. Can anyone tell me what they are?"

Before he had finished the question a tanned arm shot into the air belonging to that of an excited looking boy. Amaya frowned slightly, what was the purpose of the hand raising gesture?

"Yes, Masao?"

"The two main categories of combat are hand to hand and jutsu. The three main categories of jutsu are Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. With hand to hand you can use a variety of weapons such as kunai, shruiken or senbon; this category usually falls under the range of taijutsu."

Iruka sweat dropped. "That was a little more information than what I asked for Masao but you're correct. And today we will be going over basic target practice, hand to hand, and the simplest jutsu."

The boy with blue hair suddenly spoke again and Amaya prickled at his drawling tone. "We already went over that Iruka, why go over it again?" A few girls squealed.

"Because Shigero," Iruka stated on a sigh, clearly having done this several times with this class. "We need to practice so you can pass the test to become genin. No ones' aim in this class is perfect and until you can show me that you hit a target every time dead center I don't want to hear you complaining."

A girl with dark brown hair and white eyes frowned and grabbed onto Shigero's arm. "That's not fair, Sensei! Shigero-kun has the best aim in the class. It's not his fault that his kunai misses once or twice. No one has absolute perfect aim!"

"Ne, ne Hanabi- tell that to your cousins' teammate Tenten. She has perfect aim."

"But we're just Academy students!" Another kid shouted.

"Exactly, but eventually you will be Shinobi. How will it look on the village of Konoha when its' genin cannot even hit a target? Now is the time to improve and learn. If you don't want to put in the effort please leave the classroom now." No one moved. "That's what I thought. Now everyone line up at the front of the room so I can see your hand signs." He looked to Amaya. "Amaya, why don't you go to the back of the line so you have a chance to see how to perform them? I don't expect you to get them on your first try but take it slow when it's your turn so you can do your best."

"Pfft, special treatment." Shigero huffed purposefully loud before getting up and slouching over to the front of the line."

Besides her, Riku tilted his head to the front. "C'mon, if you have any questions I can help you if you want."

Amaya didn't answer but got up and followed. She watched as Shigero performed all of the hand signs flawlessly, though quite a bit slower than she could. Even here she was different. Even here there was hostility. Why did the others not like her? She was just here to learn a as were they and yet she had been singled out. More people performed their turn missing a few and having to go back and do them over until they got it right. Then it was her turn.

She stood in front of Iruka, arms lax at her side and just looked at him.

"Well, want to give it a try?" He asked kindly.

Shigero scoffed besides her, having looped the line around to restart and crossed his arms arrogantly. "She's just standing there! It's clear she can't even remember one sign." A twinge of anger started in Amaya's belly. Who was this boy that he could freely throw around his judgment? Yes, she was used to judgment but she had thought she had left that behind in the village. Her eyes sparked silver. She _had _left it behind in the village. She didn't have to tolerate it here.

"Shigero, don't be so rude to Amaya." Iruka chastised. "Even if she hasn't got the signs down pat it is her first day—"

Amaya grunted softly, drawing some of the attention and then her fingers began the complicated dance of signs in a blurring speed; not even trying to hide the fact that she knew them so well. Her hands froze for a second on the last sign for a moment before she allowed her hands to drop and she reaffixed her eyes upon Iruka.

"You—I—Signs—" Iruka gaped at her with wide eyes. The rest of the class was in similar form. Amaya simply stood there with a passive expression fixed on her features.

The boy named Shigero was the first to recover. "So what? She can do signs, big deal, they're useless if she can't use chakra."

Amaya shot a look over to him and he smirked.

"Yeah, that's right, I'm advanced enough to sense chakra and yours is hardly there. What kind of shinobi would you make without an essential factor of the ninja way? No way to do jutsu, no way to gain the upper hand in fighting, no way to conceal yourself—though with your amount of chakra you might as well be a stick or rock." He sneered. "You're useless."

Amaya felt some of her control breaking, her lips curled slightly in a small snarl. The boy didn't know anything! She had chakra- Kakashi said so- and he couldn't sense it because of the shackles. Her gaze went to the glinting objects and she glared. For the first time in a long time she wished them off of her. She wished her Chakra had free reign.

"THAT'S ENOUGH SHIGERO!" Iruka shouted. The boy shrunk down slightly. He pointed a finger to the door on the opposite side of the classroom. "Lunch break, everyone go eat. We'll be doing hand to hand combat and weapons practice after." No one moved. "Get going!"

Everything snapped into action and the students hurried to gather their lunches and fled out the door. Amaya stayed where she was. Lunch? She had brought nothing to eat.

"That means you too, Amaya." Iruka prodded.

Unwilling to bring herself to engage the man in conversation she inclined her head slightly before trudging after the others. The area she walked out to was quite large, with rolling greenery and a plethora of trees surrounding the area, some of them having targets pinned to them. A meadow of flowers lay to the right and many of the girl students sat there, shooting glances towards where the boys gathered in clumps around the grassy field.

It was…beautiful. Not as enchanting as the untamed state of the deep forest she had traveled through but… it was something new and she enjoyed new.

Abruptly someone roughly rammed their shoulder into hers sending a dull ache reverberating through her bone. She looked to see who it was. A girl with dull brown eyes stood beside her, arms crossed and a look of anger and stubbornness ironed to her face.

"Stay away from Shigero-kun, ne? And while you're at it quit being such an obnoxious show off!" The girl demanded. "Hanabi- chan's from the prestigious Hyuuga clan—something actually worth being put on display—yet you don't see Her being all flashy." She pointed a finger at Amaya. "Since you're the new girl, why don't I help you out and give you the rules? Number one: Hanabi's the top girl student and will **remain** as such so stop being all high and mighty. Number two: Stay away from Shigero-kun; it's not like he'd want to spend time with a slug like you but even so, I don't want you tainting his air with your presence. Three: Learn your place and Stick. There." She leaned closer, pushing her chubby face close to Amaya's. "Hanabi-chan is the class prodigy and if you ruin it for her by graduating early like Iruka says you should, I won't. Forgive. You."

In the back of Amaya's mind an elemental instinct for fight or flight was trying to kick in with the proximity of the girls' presence that was registering as a threat no matter how minor. Another part of her was flabbergasted that the girl was trying to intimidate her—and with such pathetic threats too! Why would she care whether or not 'Hanabi' was the prodigy? She just wanted to learn as fast as possible and prove herself not a thoughtless uncontrolled monster. And the girls threat of 'not forgiving' her if she usurped Hanabi's power was laughable. Amaya had experienced hell for the majority of her life yet here this girl spat petty threats at her face like she should be trembling. She parted her lips to tell her curtly to go away but another girl interrupted.

The one named Hanabi.

"Kimiko, enough." She said calmly. The girl immediately complied but shot a sharp glare at Amaya for good measure. Hanabi turned to where her minion was glaring and her pupil less eyes appraised her form. "Your name is Amaya, yes? I apologize for my friends' behavior but she is protective of me." She explained politely. "You must understand that as I am the Hyuuga main branches youngest daughter many would seek to…take advantage of me and it is Kimiko's wish for that not to happen."

Amaya didn't understand why the girl was speaking. Her words held no relevance to justify or excuse what the other girl had done; in fact the most she was doing was cleverly skirting around such things.

She tilted her head to the side and eyed the girl up and down subtly, noting that her arms and legs were well toned though not to the point of indicating she did heavy lifting. "Hanabi," she began and her keen eye caught the slight twitch of Hanabi but as she quickly reviewed what she'd said she found she didn't know what had caused it. "I do not care whether you are an honored daughter of some sort, neither do I care about your friend. At this moment all I ask is that you leave me to myself."

Hanabi was left staring at her words, mouth slightly open in silent shock. From behind her the other girl sprung to attention.

"HEY! Don't talk to Hanabi-sama that way!" She snarled. Silver eyes flashed but Amaya contained herself to a mere glare before turning and wandering off to the trees.

The black haired girl heard the whispers as she walked. The taunts and sniggers, the fearful and the mocking. She heard it all as she always had and like always she kept her head down and shuffled on her way. Let them think what they want. Let them say what they want. Amaya didn't care not so long as they stayed their way as she stayed hers. Her whole existence it had always been like this. The only thing that had changed in coming here was that if they moved to assault her…she'd be able to fight back.

With a tensing of her thigh muscles Amaya sprung up and landed gracefully on a limb of a tree just past the tree line so she'd be hidden from view. Her fingers curled tightly around the rough bark and she bent her head so her bangs fell into her face.

'Is it really so different?' she thought solemnly, 'I am still vulnerable, still not fully able to protect myself…' her gaze strayed towards the shackles clasped tightly onto her wrist. They had remained there for years as she'd grown. There would be scars and it would be painful. She knew that. Yet…she still wanted them off.

From the left behind her came a sound and her head snapped up with it, her instincts kicking into overdrive as she deftly spun towards it in an aggressive crouch. A collage of greenery greeted her sight. Weavings of bushes, leaves and wood of all kinds with the occasional flutter of color she identified as a bird. Nothing threatening; her senses would've conveyed that and she only felt mildly threatened.

But still…

Her eyes scanned over the lush woods again.

"BREAK IS OVER! EVERYONE GATHER UP FOR KUNAI AND SHRUIKEN!" Iruka-sensei's voice rang out. Amaya grimaced and tightened her grip. She knew she needed to go back as told. She also knew that her instincts were telling her to go searching through the sea of underbrush and highway of tree limbs. The nails of her fingers dug into the wood as she felt her body heat up as frustration gathered. What to do?

"Amaya-san?" a soft voice called. She looked down to find Riku on the ground swiveling his head back and forth. No doubt looking for her. She chuffed out a breath of air at the fact that he never once looked up—perhaps he thought that because her chakra was suppressed she had no muscle? It was a stupid thought to entertain and it would only be right to correct him.

She landed directly in front of him.

"WAAAHH-UH!" The boy exclaimed, wind milling his arms back as he fought not to tip over from shock. He caught his balance and shot her an incredulous look. "What were you doing up there? With no chakra you could've easily fallen and broken something!" All he received was a blank look that was rather sharp around the edges. Riku sighed and rubbed his head. "Anyways, Iruka-sensei is calling us. Come on, I'll partner up with you and show you how to throw both weapons so you can get on to hand-to-hand faster; I need a partner anyways since before you came the class was an odd number." She nodded slightly and they headed out of the trees.

"Alright, this is how it's going to work." Amaya could hear Iruka's voice well as the boy lead her from her haven and to the group that stood in front of Iruka. "You will each pair up with one other person who you will practice both aim and combat. There are only enough targets for half the pairs to be at so the other half will start on combat over in the center of the clearing. When a group is done with the weapons they will go notify a sparring pair and switch places so they can have a turn also. Once the other pair has completed the assignment they will move back to the clearing and continue sparring. Everyone clear on what they are going to do?" Iruk glanced around and when he saw no hands raised he nodded. "Good, now get to it!" Abruptly all of the students were off and racing towards who they wanted to be their partner. Amaya noticed that a lot of them went towards the blue haired boy who had first spoken to her.

Her attention was redirected when Riku waved a hand in front of her. "C'mon, let's get a target while the fan group squabbles." He suggested blandly. "Weapons are probably the harder thing to learn, so it's better that we get you as much time at the target as we can." Seeing her affirming nod he stuffed his hands in his pockets and slouched off to the far end of the tree line where the last target was pinned to a rather beaten up looking tree trunk with her following behind.

A bucket sat next to the tree holding glinting black objects.

"Okay, basics," Riku reached into the bucket and pulled out a separate object in each hand. "This," he raised the diamond shaped one. "Is a kunai. It is a basic weapon for a shinobi. It can be used for hand to hand combat, traps—the loop at the top is easily threaded with wire for that very reason— or, as you're going to learn, throwing. The other," he spun the other slightly, "Is a shruiken, or a throwing star, used for, well, throwing or also traps. Each one is thrown a specific way and I wouldn't recommend mixing techniques as it could end badly for people around you. Namely you're partner, which is me, so please don't."

Amaya then watched as he turned slightly and began demonstrating the wrist movements for each weapon. Her brows furrowed slightly as she tried to take it all in. The day was going to be a long day.

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><p>Hey people, hopefully the next update will be sooner ne?<p>

But in the mean time know what helps give me inspiration?

Reviews! ^^


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